



° -q5 

•Cl o r^ 

-'k¥A: '-0. ^"'■' • 




•>' 

O > 


-K, 


- 




* \\> 
- 'V'’ 


-/ Y 

^ ^0^ ° , 

o J O _ 'y^-'''' 

J ,'^’ C‘ I. 

"- ■' ^ " °> •» . , I - ' 

^ v' •!. ■' " » /■ •*£• ^ 

^w/// z ^ ■ 

y '•V ^ 

® ^ o ^O, 'y. 

^QV . 0 N G ^ 


CO 


K : 4 q, 

■> vV ^ 


o 

^ o' 


. S ’ ^ 3 N 0 


^ ff I A 


o ^' . s «> <» / " > ’ ^ ” \ N 




s 


V ^ « 


^.'v'^ -u 




•V 


•J) 


•^o V 


, '"o 

V » . o N 0 , 

^ o'^ f 

—V -t 1 o <' 0 

"''■^¥ o 0 ¥ 

’ /■ % V s.., HO 

^ '^.r. : ^iiB^ o o WSgW'tf ’ 

r>' 


.<$' * /\ ■'sS 

'V - ^\>\Y ■ 

" K'sa 




^V 


0 N c . '7' 


.0 N 0 


\ 


" 'Kf- \\’ 
- '\ 


’ ^ i ^’^fliA" k;'' 

Y * 0 <s r 

'?' ^ O ^0 '' ^ /V 

T >3 S, » ^ .•^' •s -^ '' 

'■■ e'A » 

« ^\\'^cr^//>, I 


O 'f - .s’.' 

'■• « '^b ' - “ 


</* 

¥ .V^ “ 


\ 


V I H 


0 X 


r 

■^o V 

.%• 



<t 

> 

iO T- 

1 
J- ^ 


V 


y'%- , 

* 

'/^ ^ ” \ 1 B ^ 0 X 

<• O. • v^ 


s'- ,'\ 




V- 

o > 



sj. 

^ </ 

1 

/• 

it 

f- 



> 


tP 

< 


v\- V'. 

^ rf\^$r A ^ "'V Cs 

3 (1^ 


c* /, 0 

^ . > ■ / • -. 

ff ^ 


Q> .<‘ 


✓’ 

v"' s 1 '^- • ^ N 0 ^ Y * 0 

. 0 ^ ' ''Z <> V ^ "A 

'' C V 


;^.f, 


R <> 


0 <1 1. ^ 

•V o 

■ 

ffvs« ; o''' ° 

C- o .-i °^. ' 

1 0 






A oY' 


qT . A- " ■* - ' 


0 <1 k ^ ^\0 


o ^ 


,;}> ^ 

\U a 3 ^ J 

0 N G' 

. 0 ^ G '’ « o 


» <t 


V 


o .<!•'' '-o. 3,0 

' S IV /•» 


.-i 


O'^ s'”” 


'^E- ' •» ^ „ o ’ ■•f.'^ 


0 


\ \' ■./--*• ^ ? I ' 

* _ ^ ji. ^ 


0 > s ^ ^ ^ O. 1 




/. 


ni'p 


.x'^^ 




4 cP > 

.V 


aV^ 

H <>y ^ 



O^G , 

a « . 0_ 


i> Ct Y 


‘&h,\ 

% b ^g»»' s" ■■• '^- 

, ^ '?,¥' / , . ' ' ' » /As" “ ° ^ -o'^''' c “ ^ * A. ' " ' ■ ^ ' “ 

^ '^n ^ ■'■ =" v'^ 

Cu - s rs,- ■-•>-* 

^. •» 3 «. 0 ' 

'z ^ 

%> 


y- 




-rf. y 

•t*- , , , , '^, * •> N 0 " 

A' s'L,rs» '' V' 

‘ ^ yY' 


° A ° 


-z-i " '' ^ 


ffi 


<<■ 



r- <Ye" 


, s ^ 


^ -Jj 



<*> 




0 ^ X 


i5l 


'^-*' ^ ^ A Y 

« o_ 



s 

A'.nN^ 

y* 

<x 

or «• 

'b<. 

" ^ 

* 

aO ^ 

X ^ 




sO 


A o,. . ts^ 





aV 


c^ 

3,'^'' O* 4- 

v^ » '< • » , 

'^ s<e 5 i * 

- ^ r\ .^* 


♦ -.0 



'''■VsV¥V.v 



'h ■' ^ <y 





. > V T- ' C<- 

« Q > CV 

> . ^^ , <?•/.♦ s , ^ ■* 

\ %• / 


>^ <y ^ 4 
o > ^^ j 



■ft 'Xvyf; 

<x 

Or »• 

^C^ ^ 1 


^ ° .«5 


-er 

//!]] 

^ A 



^ ✓ 



'f ^ o ^ ® ' o^ s ^ ^ ^ 

J-* r -*'■ 'y^ 

® ^/V ( 1 ^ o 

^ <P b 

A o 1/^<SV ^ ^ 


'X (V> 


•/ ^ % ,-o'^ C » " . ^o/ * ‘ - 

o'^ 

’ ,<^'^' ^ b . “^ r .'.^' .,0 

^ v - V^ »■'■>» ''^- 


A? .-b 

i ^v •>' 



V I ft 



% 


r ^ 

.- 0 >; C' 



^ \v 


? 0 ^ s \> 0 . ’ ° " /■ C; 

<^'r. c.- ^ a\’ ^ rA^^A) 



^ ^C>'’ 

, 0 '^' -o^, 

^ , 0 "^ ^ A'i' S 

C_ 0 c-^SNcv o ^ 



fe ' %\A 


^ y/ » 

^ r^. C <. > 

^ V <* O L 

^ <.1 ' » ♦ <* 




<0 '^ / s'' \' ' 

.o’^ .ON.,, a\ 

.r- ^ o ^ .^WlZ/yC''''^ 




r 

A 



Ni. 

-<« 

O 


J> 

<f 

> 



*> 

A- 


^ aS ^Zz 

* C 3 ■=> -4 >^' 

^ < 5 ^ - 0 ‘ ^ ^ 



'i 


If 

h 



i 


I 






. y ' 




• '^1 



i 

1 


I 



I 



4 


I 

I 

! 


I 1 


y 





y 




I 


» I 






I f 

»; f 


li ^ 




( 


•1 



'FJrrliS NUMBER CONTAINS 


J/' 

O 


RAY’S RECRUIT. 

By CAPTAIN CHARLES KINQ, U.S.A., 

Author of “ The Colonel’s Daughter,” “The Deserter,” “From the Ranks,” “A Soldier’s 
Secret,” “ Sergeant Crcesus,” “ Captain Close,” “ A Tame Surrender,” etc. 

ESTES. 



MONTHLY MAGAZINE 


CONTENTS 


RAY'S RECRUIT . . . 

Oyster-Planting and Oyster-Farming . 
Life (Poem) . . . * . 

Two Chinese Funerals . . . 

Joe Riggler’s Romance . . . 

Animal Cannoneers and SHARPSHoat^feks 
J^v^TRiMONiAL Divinations 
^ Her Portion (Poem) 

A (Glimpse of Old Philadelphia . 
Goethe in Practical Politics 
Answering his Letter 
Politics on the American Stage . 
Limitation (Poem) .... 

A Plea for our Game . 

The Gentle Art of the Translator 


s ^ 

Captain Charles King 

433-535 

Calvin Dill Wilson 

. 536 

Frederick Peterso7i 

. 542 

Beulah Carey Gronlund 

• 543 

Elsie A. Robmso7i 

• 545 

James Weir, Jr. 

• 551 

Alice Morse Earle 

• 554 

Nora C. Franklm 

• 55<5 

Emily P. Weaver 

• 557 

F. P. Stearns 

. 561 

Mary B. Goodwin 

. 565 

J. Harry Pence . 

. 569 

Carrie Blake Morgan . 

• 571 

Fred. Chapman Mathews 

• 572 

Caroline W. Latwier . 

• 574 


PRICE TWENTY- FIVE CENTS 


PUBLISHED BY 

J:B:LIPPINCOTT:C2: PHILADELPHIA: 

I ' I LONDON: 6 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 

t ' PARIS: BRENTANO’S, 37 AVENUE DE L’OPERA. 

r Copyright, 1897, by J. B. Lippincott Company. Entered at Philadelphia Post-Office as second-class matter. 



Haviland China 


It is important to buyers that they should be 
informed that the only ware that has always been known 
as Haviland China is marked under each piece: 


H&C 






On White China. 


On Decorated China. 


Enameliite 


The Modern 


STOVE POLISH. 


DUSTLESS, ODORLESS, 
brilliant, labor SAVING. 
Trji it on your Cycle Chain, 
J. L. PRESCOn & CO., New York. 


HIRES 


Rootbeer 


Carbonated. 


Cofked-ttp health — ready for your uncorking# ^ 
Sparkling^ snappy^ thirst-allaying HIRES ^ 
Rootbeer^ ready bottled# Nothing in it but = 
roots^ barks^ berries^ distilled water — and = 
healthful enjoyment# Quenches your thirsty B 
gives you an appetite# A draught 
of it refreshes you — body and 
mind ; makes you readier for 
work or play# A promoter of 
temperance^ health and good 
cheer# The most wholesome drink 
for bicyclists — anybody, at home, 
traveling, working, shopping# 

Sold by all dealers by the bottle and in 
cases of two dozen pints. See that HIRES 
and the signature. Chas. E, Hires Co. are 
on each bottle. 

Package of HIRES Rootbeer extract 
makes 5 gallons. Sold, as formerly, by 
all dealers. 

THE CHAS. E. HIRES CO., 

Philadelphia. 



= 




RAY’S RECRUIT. 


BY 



CAPTAIN CHARLES KING, U.S.A., 


AUTHOR OF “THE COLOITEL^S DAUGHTER,” “THE DESERTER,” “FROM THE 
RANKS,” “A SOLDIER’S SECRET,” “SERGEANT CROESUS,” “CAPTAIN 
CLOSE,” “A TAME SURRENDER,” ETC. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

J. B, LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 


\ 




Copyright, 1897, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 


Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A. 


LIPPINCOTT’S 

]y[ONTHLY ]y[AGAZINE. 

APRIL, 189 7. 

RAY’S RECRIJIT. 


PRELIMINAKY. 

To Mr. Darcy Hunter Gray, 

ll/r Y DEAR BOY, — As foreshadowed in my last, the concern has 
JjX gone to smash, and your prospects with it. When its affairs 
are settled, the firm of Hunter, Bloom & Co. will have enough to pay 
its funeral expenses, and thaPs about all. What I have left is my 
wife’s, who will, I trust, be able to support me until certain life- 
insurance policies become due, out of which she can reimburse herself, 
through my dying, for the cost of my living. I’m too old to try 
again, — too sad to care much, except for you. 

Your father was my dear friend, your mother my beloved sister. 
When he died I promised him I would be a father to you. When she 
died her last words were a plea that I should be good to her boy. I 
accepted both trusts, Darcy, and — betrayed both. 

“They died poor : I was rich. They would have had you learn 
to carve your own career, and I loved you so that from your bright, 
brave boyhood you were spoiled and indulged as my own son. I gave 
you the best I had. I balked you in only one desire, that of going to 
West Point. Harvard, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, and the 
Riviera were your educators. I planned to make you a railway mag- 
nate, when you hadn’t learned the first principles of the business. I’ve 
accustomed you to every luxury, — to a life of careless ease, to be a 
dawdler and a dilettante — isn’t that what you call it? I counted on 
leaving you rich, and I leave you ruined. The self-reproach — the 
misery which overcomes me as I write these words, no words can tell 
you. 

“ I know what you would write and say, — you were always gener- 
ous ; but, Darcy, don’t write, don’t come, — just yet. Wait until you 
get — the next news. Wait until 

“ However, let us get down to business. Of course you and 

435 


436 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


Mrs. Hunter will not be apt to see much of each other. She will 
mourn me less than you ; and you more than I deserve. The very 
little nest-egg your mother set aside for you is intact. With accrued 
interest it amounts to some eleven thousand seven hundred and twenty 
dollars. You have no debts to speak of, have you? Fve paid all 
you ever told me about, twice, I think, and you were always frank 
and truthful. That little sum, with what you have to your credit in 
the Chemical and over there with you, represents the sum total of your 
fortune. You never needed it before, and so I never happened to 
mention it to you. 

But despite your defects in bringing up, for which I am responsible, 
youVe not much worse oflF than if you^d gone into the army (I hope 
youVe outlived that lunacy, as you did the other one for — you know), 
and can now make a strike for yourself. You have the best of health, 
the best of looks (for you strongly resemble your uncle as he was at 
your age), the best of education for any purpose that isn’t absolutely 
useful, and there is nothing that I know of to prevent your marrying a 
fortune as I did, and living happy ever after — as I didn’t. 

Don’t underrate the extent of my collapse — Bloom got away with 
what Wall Street left — or of my love. Thank God I have no son of 
my own. Thank God I’ve only you to kneel to and say. Forgive the 
blind, miscalculating, but utterly humbled old fellow that ” 

But here the eyes of the man seated there by the dancing waters 
in the glad April sunshine grew so blind with tears that he could read 
no more. 

Out on the blue, translucent waves the white swans were paddling 
to and fro, dipping for bread tossed by the lavish hands of laughing 
children and their white-capped bonnes. The flashing oars of many a 
skiff drove through the sparkling waters, sending snowy little surges 
breaking from the sharp, white prows. Fairy yachts and swift paddle- 
wheel steamers clove the mirror surface farther from the shore, and 
tossed the creamy foam along their billowing wake. Half-way over to 
the Savoy shore, deep in the shadow of the mountains, two white- 
winged barques seemed wooing the faltering breeze, for not a leaf was 
stirring in the deep green foliage that shaded the path along the sea 
wall. Towering high aloft, dazzling in the sunshine, the snow-seamed, 
snow-capped crags blinded the eye with their radiance as they peered 
down into their own reflections in the sombre depths at their shadowy 
base. Away to the eastward, lovely little towns and villages lay at 
the foot of the vine-clad slopes of the northern shore, while here and 
there a venerable ruin — -castle, convent, or fortress — stood sentinelled in 
bold relief on some projecting height, or nestled under the shoulder 
of some rocky cliff, close to the water’s edge. Near at hand, in the 
public Place, the carrousels^ thronged with children, old and young, 
were spinning madly to the reedy melodies of some donkey-driven 
organ. Waltz, galop, and military march rioted in loud rivalry, and 
a group of Italian singers, smiling indomitably, carolled ‘^Funiculi 
Funicula” in nimble opposition to a Tyrolean band quacking like noisy 
ducks in the pavilion at the water’s edge. The bell buttoned page 
of the Beau Rivage was still darting about, distributing letters just 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


437 


brought in by the grinning facteur, ever a-scent for tips, and, having 
still three or four undelivered missives, halted in front of the Amer- 
ican. 

Pardon, m’sieu’, but — ees Mees Langdon 

Up at the billiard-rooms, probably,^^ was the brusque answer, as 
Mr. Gray turned hastily away to hide the suspicious moisture in his 
eyes. 

‘^But no. I ’ave been there. I ^ave letters for her, and for 
M^sieu^ Sm — eet.’^ 

The gloom in the tall Americanos face deepened perceptibly. 

‘‘ Over yonder, possibly, he answered, with a sidewise nod of the 
head towards a little arbor far from the madding crowd’^ at the east- 
ward edge of the pretty grounds; then turned away, impatient of 
further inquiry. Some men were chatting eagerly at the fountain as 
he passed. One of them, English unmistakably, hailed him jovially. 

Time you were ready. Gray. YouOre going to Chillon, of course.oo 
And, with a true Briton’s deep disdain of foreign names, he spoke it 
as it was spelled. 

No,” was the answer ; I’m going to cool off.” 

Been getting a red-hot letter, as you Yankees say, I suppose,” 
the Islander went on, impervious to satire. 

‘^That’s about the size of it,” answered Gray, without halting. 
Two of the men looked after him with no little concern in their 
eyes. Others hailed him as he passed them by. Gray was evidently 
popular. A woman, in billowing laces and a parasol chair, smiled 
largely upon him as he raised his straw hat, and bade him pause, but 
prevailed not. Two younger women, in trim walking attire, nodded 
coquettishly and said it was the very day for the trip ; them, too, he 
answered only vaguely, and, with a far-away look in his deep blue eyes, 
he passed on to the telegraph office, and the group of smoking men 
broke up. 

Something’s amiss with Gray,” said one of the party, a New- 
Yorker. I’ll go see.” 

I don’t see what there was in the size of the letter to upset him,” 
said the Englishman, unconscious of slang that was not Britannia 
ware. Gray’s a good sort, though. Could a fellow do anything, 
d’ you suppose?” 

But the pursuer was slow. Seeing him coming, and divining his 
object, Mr. Gray slipped out of the side door, dived through the 
shrubbery that bordered a winding drive-way to the west, and took 
himself off through the crowded Place. He had need to be alone, — 
to face his changed fortunes fair and square. 

Twenty-five years old, and up to the midweek mail from America 
he had never known a care since boyish days, unless it was some 
momentary heart-pang when Amy Langdon proved unkind. In a 
dawdling, amateurish way he had read the daily papers and signed 
some letters and reports laid before him by an attentive clerk in the 
office of the Eastern traffic manager of a great road of which his uncle 
was a heavy stockholder and prominent director. The most serious 
thing he had ever undertaken was his membership in a crack city 


438 


RAY^S RECRUIT, 


regiment, wherein he had served through the ranks and really earned 
a commission. But both these avocations he had quitted during the 
previous winter, and all because Amy Langdon was reported flirting 
dangerously at Nice and Mentone, and if she were not actually engaged 
to Darcy Gray he at least felt so far engaged to her that flirtation was 
denied him. 

As pretty a girl as ever rode in Central Park was Amy, and as 
dashing a horsewoman, and it was Gray’s admirable riding and uni- 
versally acknowledged prospects that made him for the time so accept- 
able a parti. He could manage a horse far better than he could a 
woman, however, and Miss Langdon kept him at her side when in 
saddle and subject to call at all other times. But she had, not un- 
kindly, laughed off* his protestations and dissected his offers. ^^It’s 
absurd, Darcy. You haven’t a cent in the world that doesn’t come 
from your uncle, and who knows what his wife will do with his for- 
tune, — or he himself, for that matter? As for me, I’m a beggar with 
social aspirations. Come, be sensible, and I’ll like you better. Be a 
soldier, Darcy, and face the facts. That’s the one thing you’re cut out 
for.” 

You’re hard-hearted, Amy,” he had answered. 

^^No; only hard-headed. I’m soft-hearted enough to like you 
too well to spoil both our lives.” 

Gray believed himself much in love when she went abroad in 
November, and took it much to heart that she should be so constantly 
attended by Fred Smythe, who had no atom of sense in his head, but 
no end of dollars in his pocket. But when a lordling — a younger son 
of an older house than ever dwelt in Gotham — an Honorable, between 
whom and the title and estates was a lord with only one lung and that 
fast going — had opposed his sighs to those of Smythe, and there came 
rumors that Locksley Hall was to be enacted over again with an 
American Amy in the foreground, Darcy Gray believed it time to rush 
for the Riviera, and a worried old uncle most unwillingly let him go. 
Hunter loved that boy, his sister’s son, as the apple of his eye. There 
wasn’t anything he wouldn’t have given him but the means of earning 
his own living. All that he proposed to settle magnificently. But 
the bottom began to drop out of the market in mid- January, and left 
him stranded high and dry by the middle of May. Two million 
dollars, said Wall Street, had ‘^gone where the woodbine twineth.” 

Over beyond the hurly-burly of the public Place, crowded with 
townfolk and children, the road -way wound along the water’s edge. 
Gray strode rapidly westward, his head bowed, his hands thrust deep 
in his trousers-pockets. He missed his usual companions, a heavy 
stick and a nimble fox-terrier, but both had been left with the portier 
as inappropriate to a voyage to Chi lion. They were to have started, a 
merry party it promised to be, by the early boat from Geneva, and he 
could see her now cleaving the limpid waters around the headland of 
Morges. It was time to warn his companions that he could not go. 
One girl, at least, might miss him, and she should be accorded oppor- 
tunity to name some other escort, Amy, — ^^Amy, shallow-hearted.” 
She had disappeared with that brainless ass half an hour ago, possibly 


RAY S RECRUIT. 


439 


to console him for the fact that he was not one of the dozen bidden by 
Madame la Comtesse to be of the party to voyage with her to the 
famous castle, breakfast with her aboard La France, and dine en file 
at Montreux. Vane, the Briton, was one, and small comfort did he 
atford Smythe by bidding him jolly up, and perhaps Madame would 
let him in for post-prandial coffee at Montroo. 

Gray had never been able to stomach Smythe ; he called him an 
insupportable cad ; but when, at a turn in the path, he came suddenly 
upon the combination of brainless ass and insupportable cad squatted 
on a stone, elbows on knees, his fuzzy jowls deep sunken in his hands, 
his eyes on the far-away line of the Savoy shore, the intruder relented. 
Here was woe perhaps as deep as his own. 

But in this case misery loved not company, and Smythe was surly. 
No; there wasn’t anything Gray could do for him, thanks. He was 
feeling seedy, that was all. It was plain to see that the interview with 
Miss Langdon had left him sore at heart. Gray stood another moment, 
irresolute. There was absolutely no reason why he should do the fel- 
low a good turn. Smythe hated him and plainly showed it. But 
Gray had ignored his spleen, and ever good-humoredly tolerated him. 
It is easy for a man to forgive another’s jealousy. But Gray had 
suffered too much from Miss Langdon’s caprice not to know the 
symptoms when so patent as they were in Smythe. Ill fortune makes 
some natures magnanimous, — rare natures, — and Gray turned again. 

Look here, old man” old chap” had not then come into vogue), 
if I can’t do anything for you, you can for me. I was to have gone 
with that party, you know, to Chillon this morning. Yonder comes 
the boat now. Go to Madame for me, like a good fellow, and tell her 
I’ve just received ill tidings from home. I’ve got to go to Geneva by 
the ten o’clock train. I was paired off with Miss Langdon. Tell 
Madame I’m awfully sorry, but I can’t go. She’ll ask you in my 
place — see if she doesn’t. So long.” 

And in another minute he was breasting the heights to Lausanne, 
while Smythe was speeding to Beau Rivage. 

It was late that evening when he returned from a solemn day with 
the bankers, the consul, and certain tradesfolk whose prospects, tem- 
poral and eternal, he was given to understand were shattered by his 
cancellation of certain orders for furs and bijouterie. Heavy levy was 
made on his check-book to solace their suffering, but there is a certain 
recklessness of cost when one’s financial tether is nearly at an end. 
Dinner was over at Beau Rivage. The band was playing delightfully 
in the south portico. Men in evening dress were sauntering and 
smoking and sipping coffee about the corridor. A few American and 
English girls with their escorts were dancing in the salon. Gray was 
still in knickers,” and had dined solus at the Hotel Terminus. He 
paused at the portico and gazed in at the scene of mirth, luxury, and 
enjoyment wherein he had been so thoroughly at home, and contrasted 
unflinchingly the scene with that which he had planned for his future. 
Now it was necessary for him to get to his room to write, and he hoped 
to reach it unobserved, but the Honorable Rokeby had received his 
instructions and nabbed him. 


440 


RAY S RECRUlt. 


‘‘ Eoh, I say, Gray — Miss Langdon, y^ know, wished to speak with 
you directly you came in/^ 

Yes,^^ was the languid answer; ‘^and where is she now?’’ 

In their salon, I fancy. She said she was too tired to dress for 
dinner. Had a beastly day, y’ know.” 

Gray nodded, slowly ascended the winding stairway, and tapped at 
the door in the west corridor. 

^^’Trez,” answered a boyish voice, and Darcy was exuberantly 
welcomed by a ten-year-old Langdon. The mater and sis are having 
a row in the gallery,” said he, radiantly. Old Smythe’s been pester- 
ing her. Go out there : they don’t mind you, you know, and I can’t 
get away from here until they’ve finished.” 

But further confidences were ended by the sudden entrance of Miss 
Langdon herself. She had evidently been watching for Gray’s return. 
Outstretched to him in eager greeting were Amy’s long, slender white 
hands ; uplifted to his in anxious inquiry were a pair of the softest, 
loveliest eyes. The voice in which she spoke was soft, almost tremu- 
lous. What is it, Darcy?” 

And the hand sidled into his, and Miss Langdon to a sofa whither 
she would have drawn him ; but, despite the hand, which, despite 
itself, he released, he remained on his feet and concisely answered, — 

What you expected.” 

^^From Mr. Hunter? — Gerald, go down and play with Ralph 
until mother sends for you.” 

Ralph isn’t there,” was the petulant answer. 

Then go and play ; go anyhow.” Then she turned for answer. 
‘^From Mr. Hunter?” 

^‘Yes.” 

And it’s true ?” 

“ Yes, every cent.” 

Then the hands would be no longer denied. Both went impul- 
sively out, seized his with no timid grasp, and drew him impetuously 
down beside her. Then to his amaze he saw the fair face quivering 
piteously, the lovely eyes brimming with tears, the soft red lips twitch- 
ing with uncontrollable emotion. ‘‘Oh, you poor, dear boy — oh, 
Darcy, Darcy, I never — I never knew how much I cared for you till 
now,” she almost sobbed. “Gerald, if you don’t leave this room 
instantly I’ll ” 

But the boy bolted, and then Darcy saw that she was gazing up at 
him through a briny depth of tears. Even in his surprise, even in the 
thrill of joy with which he heard this fond confession, he recaptured 
himself, as it were, in the nick of time. 

“Under the circumstances, that’s something I didn’t expect to 
hear,” said Darcy. 

“Under other circumstances you wouldn’t have heard it,” said 
Amy. 

“ It’s a bit rough on Smythe, isn’t it ?” 

“ It in no wise concerns him. As for Rokeby, he must take me 
just as I am.” 

“ Oh,” said Gray, looking fairly at her at last, and beginning to 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


441 


tug at the hand she still held in her two, to be an inter- 

national affair, is it ? And I am addressing the future Countess of 
Lancaster 

Listen to reason, Darcy said Miss Langdon, regaining dignity 
and self-possession at sight of the hunger in his eyes. I have no 
money. I have every ambition, every longing, every desire that only 
position and money can gratify. I like you better than any man I 
ever knew, yet I wouldn’t marry you, because you hadn’t enough to 
offer, and I never so fully felt that I could and would marry you as 
now — when I can’t. Even Mr. Smythe, with half a million, could 
not buy. I am going to a higher bidder, — the highest I could find. 
So far as I’m concerned, that settles my fate, but it’s yours I care 
about, Darcy. You’ve been a dawdler and a do-nothing all your life. 
What mil you do now?” 

Be true to my friends — and their estimate of me, probably. You 
wouldn’t have me to disappoint them, would you ?” 

What on earth do you mean ? Speak sensibly, Darcy. I’ve 
never been worth your trust when you gave it. Now I’m honest with 
you. What will you do ?” 

What they all prophesied, — nothing.” 

Darcy, you have brains and energy. You have — persistence 
enough to win anything — that’s worth having,” she concluded, lamely. 

There was a subdued sound of sniffling on the balcony without. 
Over the moonlit Alpine sea the mater was gazing towards the shores 
of France and wondering if many mothers had such trials as daughters 
at whose farthingales dangled half the eligibles in society. Smythe’s 
mother, it seems, had taken up the pen to second the plaintive baa of 
her golden calf, and was dealing trenchant blows at her old crony, the 
mother of the belle of the season. 

Mother will be in here in a moment, Darcy. You must be frank 
with me, and Rokeby may be up — any moment. You will stay here 
until — you’ve had time to look about you?” 

^^I’ve had plenty of time to-day. Everything’s settled. Tell 
Rokeby I’m sorry I shan’t be able to take him bear- and elk-hunting, 
as I promised.” 

^^Do you mean you’re going soon, — to-morrow?” 

^^No,” said Gray, rising, I’m going to-night.” 

One instant the beautiful face beside him wore an expression of 
utter woe, of genuine sympathy and sorrow, then decked itself with 
winning and conventional smiles, for the salon door, opening at the 
moment, revealed young hopeful, the brother, tugging at the hand of 
the other hopeful, monocled. Knickers and evening dress confronted 
each other at the threshold. Rejected Yank, accepted Briton, met as 
do modern mortal rivals without sign of rancor. 

Er — ah — what’s up. Gray ?” 

Nothing. I’m — down.” 

By the midnight express he left via Berne for Basel. He could 
not face the throng of inquisitive sympathizers on the morrow. He 
meant to skip away unnoticed, but he had been too genuinely popular, 
and there are men, and many of them, Briton or Boston, who will go 


442 


RAY\S RECRUIT. 


out of their way to say good words to a fellow in distress. Three of 
them trailed Gray to the station and ran him to earth on the train, 
and said impetuous things about being his banker, and made other 
offers impossible to take seriously. The only thing he could take was 
a drink with all three, until they tumbled off at the conductor’s shrill 
summons, and through the night, under the glitter of the lamps, some- 
thing came gleaming and spinning, and he caught Rokeby’s handsome 
flask and Rokeby’s parting words : 

Take a drink for me once in a while, will you, old boy ? Au 
revoirJ’ 


CHAI^TEK I. 

The major was sprawled on the broad of his back under the shade 
of a spreading cottonwood, a slouch hat, battered and weather-stained, 
pulled well down over his fine, dark-brown eyes, their heavy brows 
concealed by its jagged brim, their long, thick, curling lashes down- 
ward sweeping towards the bronzed, sun-tanned cheeks. The bristling 
beard and curling black moustache concealed the lines of the mouth 
and jaws, rendering speculation as to the major’s characteristics mere 
guess-work, which wouldn’t be the case, said Captain Trotter, a physi- 
ognomist of the first order in his own estimation, if the major’s face 
were, as usual with him in garrison, freshly and cleanly shaved except 
as to the upper lip. Open at the throat, the major’s dark-blue flannel 
shirt rolled easily back, revealing a black waste of hairy stubble down 
to the protuberant Adam’s apple,” below which the fair skin showed 
almost as white as a child’s and well-nigh as soft. A devotee to cold 
water was the major, even in his cups, and that, too, in days when the 
traditions of the great war still held sway in the cavalry, and the cock- 
tail was the rule, not the exception, at morning stable-call. Not that 
he preached the doctrine of total abstinence or looked upon himself as 
a model of virtue in any way. Whiskey never did me any good,” 
was his modest explanation. I never seemed to need it or to care 
for it. I never saw any fun in getting full, and the only time I ever 
did, it made me sick for a week, — a thing that never happened to me 
before or since. If you like it, Ray, or if it agrees with you, Blake, 
why, go ahead. So long as you don’t get full and neglect your busi- 
ness, it’s none of mine.” Time was in the regimental past, as the 
major very well knew and the minors sometimes said, when Ray 
occasionally ^^got full” and when Blake seemed to think it agreed with 
him, — until the day afterwards, at least. But Blake and Ray had 
found reason to part company with their old familiar friend, that 
intimacy having led, as often do others, to later estrangement; that 
familiarity having bred contempt; that warmth, as Tom Hood would 
have said, having produced a coldness. ^‘Singed cats” was what the 
unreconciled of the subalterns called these erstwhile jovial blades, but 
never where either cat” could hear, as each was known to be un- 
pleasantly ready to back his views. Both officers had so far mended 
their ways in this respect that neither would sip from the seductive 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


443 


bowl, yet each was entirely willing that the rest of the commissioned 
list should be free agents in the matter, with the possible exceptions of 
Brady, who never drank that he didn^t make an ass of himself, and 
Rawson, who never drank that he didn^t make trouble for somebody 
else. 

And about these five men,— the major, whose name is spelled 
M-a-i-n-w-a-r-i-n-g and always pronounced “ Mannering,^^ and Ray 
and Blake, who have often appeared in these chronicles of by-gone 
frontier days, and Brady and Rawson, who have never yet so appeared 
and who never will again, so far as tliis chronicler is concerned, — about 
these five men and one other yet to appear, hangs most of this story, — 
these six men and just two women. 

Place aux dames, though this bivouac on the Boxelder was no place 
for them whatever, and neither woman was there at the time, and only 
one of them was known to any one of the men referred to. One of the 
women was Mrs. Main waring, and the other, a spinster, was Kate Leroy. 

It was a hot day, a dusty day, and the command could prove it 
without the use of a word as it unsaddled in the grove and men and 
horses made for the nearest water. They had marched since early 
morn and covered twenty miles when the trumpets rang the signal for 
the final halt. They had been winding for hours in long column of 
twos down the sandy bottom of a vanished creek, and the sight of this 
oasis in the desert, the clump of cottonwoods with its outlying strag- 
glers farther down stream, was indeed a grateful one. It told of the 
presence of living water, and the regiment, said Trooper Kelly, was 
as dhry as the chaplain^s temperance sermon the night before Patrick's 
Day in the morning.’^ Mainwaring’s four troops, being first on the 
ground, pre-empted what grass there was before breaking for the spring. 
Trooper law reserved to the horses of the owner all space within lariat 
length of the firmly driven picket-pin, and woe to the man that ^‘jumped 
theclaim.^^ In like manner had the majoPs ‘‘striker’^ pre-empted the 
biggest cottonwood for his masters roof-tree, and there, dusted, shaken, 
and smoothly spread, were the majoPs blankets when, fresh from his 
dip in the stream, that sturdy, keen-eyed, compactly built soldier came 
back for his rest. 

And there he lay, the picture of trooper content, beguiling the 
moments until dinner should be ready, and trying hard not to go to 
sleep meantime, with a copy of Les Mis^rables,’^ hauled from the 
depth of his capacious saddle-bags. Having had little schooling to 
speak of, Mainwaring was an assiduous reader of fiction, and prided 
himself on the fact. 

Presently, without lifting his eye from the page, or glancing to- 
wards the party interrogated, who was sprawled in similar fashion 
under an adjacent tree, the major popped the following question ; 

Blake, what’s savvy ke pew ?” 

And Blake, without lifting his eyes from the written pages of the 
missive in his lean brown hand, responded, after the manner of soldier 
folk, Damfino.” 

The major’s brows contracted in a scowl. Suspiciously he glanced 
at his long-legged comrade, Thought you spoke French,” said he. 


444 


RAY^S RECRUIT, 


To which Blake blandly responded, with modest and not inex- 
cusable hesitancy, — 

We-11 — er — not always. Isn^t it — possibly, sauve qui peutf^ 

Well, sove 'ke puh, then,^’ responded Main waring, with disdainful 
emphasis on the convenient monosyllable. What^s that 

That,^^ said Blake, is what the girls say when Brady tries to 
dance, — Jump for your lives and — Brady take the hindmost. It’s 
polite French for Hhe jig is up.’” 

Captain Ray, stretched at ease upon a costly Navajo blanket of 
which he was inordinately proud, reached out with his moccasined foot 
and indented the canvas re-enforcement of his comrade’s field riding- 
breeches. Qliit it, Blake,” he muttered. 

But the major needed no man to protect his interests. He might 
not know French, but he knew Blake, and liked him, — ordinarily. 

I more than half thought you didn’t know. Legs,” he said, with 
a yawn. ^^Legs” was a regimental pet name for the longest and 
lankiest of the commissioned list. You West Pointers have nearly 
all had two years’ schooling in that tongue, and another year in Spanish, 
and I’m blessed if ever a one of you could speak either. I’d have a 
heap more respect for you if you’d come out like a man and say you 
didn’t know, like Ray, for instance. There’s no nonsense about him.” 

Here Blake kicked backward, in delighted return of his comrade’s 
broad hint. Well, major,” he hastened to say, my translation was 
a trifle free, perhaps, but the phrase is a clumsy one to turn into English. 
Ray will agree with me as to the translation. The main trouble with 
his French is the accent. It’s a combination of blue grass and 
Apache.” 

Well, he has the good sense to keep it to himself, then,” answered 
Mainwaring, still a trifle sulky. I’d pattern after him, if I were 
you.” 

Faith and so I would, major mine, did not my innocent associates 
so often take me for a lexicon. But, now, you ought to speak French 
like a native. Mrs. Mainwaring does. You couldn’t have a better 
teacher, and Stannard says all a man needs to learn anything in this 
world is brains and time. » You’ve got lots of — time.” 

What’s that about Stannard ?” interrupted the major, sharply, and 
Blake’s diversion had told, as he meant that it should. If there was 
one man in the army of whom Mainwaring was jealous, it was Stan- 
nard. He, like Stannard, had been a capital troop commander for 
years. He had attained, at last, the rank of major, vice Barry pro- 
moted, only a year or so after Stannard ; had served just as well as 
had Stannard ; had as fine a war record, and an honored and honor- 
able name ; had a charming wife, health, and competence, yet mourned 
in secret — even at times made audible moan — over the fact that among 
the officers and men of the regiment what Stannard said, thought, did, 
was never to be questioned. Stannard was authority on all points 
of soldiering ; Stannard was the expert engineer, builder, draughtsman, 
topographer, and all-round military sharp;” while he, Mainwaring, 
whose troop had been a model, whose battalion was now really in finer 
shape than Stannard’s, and who had abundant means and spent where 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


445 


Stanuard saved, was looked upon in the cavalry as a good soldier, a 
fine oflBcer, despite his surly mannerisms, and yet because he hadn’t 
enjoyed Stannard’s advantages and a college, or even high school, 
training, he must submit to perennial playing of second fiddle. It set 
him against Stannard, and it led eventually to trouble. 

If you’d only be wise, Leonard,” his brighter better half had 
said to him, ‘‘ you wouldn’t ask questions of Blake. Look it up in the 
encyclopaedia, or even ask me.” 

Why, hang it, Laura !” interrupted the major, half my years 
are spent in saddle out in the field. You and the encyclopaedia are 
a month’s march away. I can’t help wanting to know what things 
mean.” 

^‘Then ask Captain Truscott or Captain Freeman.” She knew 
too much to wound him by suggesting Stannard. Blake’s propensity 
to burlesque everything is irresistible unless you happen to be alone 
with him.” And Mainwaring would promise, and despite his promise 
would fall, for, as he frankly admitted, he couldn’t help wanting to 
know, you know, and, as it never occurred to him that he could mis- 
pronounce any word, foreign or domestic, poor Mainwaring was eter- 
nally putting his foot in it. He and Tommy Hollis were Blake’s 
entire delight, and neither man could resent his witticisms, even when 
they verged on the personal, for Blake, like Bay, was a regimental 
idol because of deeds that won a tribute outvying the Victoria Cross or 
Congressional Medal of Honor. Mainwaring swore by both as soldiers, 
and Hollis fairly worshipped Blake. But Tommy was away on other 
duty just now, and the shafts of the long-legged captain’s ridicule fell 
most improperly on his sluggish- witted chief. 

Blake did not thoroughly like him. He thought Mainwaring 
selfish, opinionated, and conceited. He admitted him to be a first-rate 
soldier, a fine drill-master and tactician, a truthful, honest, and pure- 
minded man, a devoted husband and father, — in fact, one of the repre- 
sentative men of the cavalry. It wasn’t that he was narrow (his 
tolerance on the whiskey question was an evidence that he was not), yet 
he was butt-headed,” said Blake. He’s perpetually referring to Ray 
and to me as the exponents of the liquor habit, when both of us quit 
long ago. We all like Stannard, and he doesn’t; at least he is always 
ready to disparage anything Stannard says or does, and if he were 
Stannard’s senior instead of junior he’d overrule any decision or order 
of Stannard’s just because it was Stannard’s. So when he comes out 
with his bulls I can’t help goading him a bit. Somebody’s got to keep 
him in check, or we’ll be getting the laugh from those fellows of the 
Eleventh and Twelfth.” 

They wouldn’t see the blunders, Blake, only you show ’em up,” 
said Ray, in remonstrance, and with not a little reason, for Blake 
was incorrigible. Some day you’ll cut Mainwaring to the quick, 
and he comes of a stock that hits hard and doesn’t forgive easy or 
forget at all. Better hold otf. Legs.” 

And hold otf” Legs had to for several days of a dreary home- 
ward march, dreary because the colonel meant to rest the horses thor- 
oughly after a fierce and furious chase and campaign, and so made 


446 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


short marches where the officers and men would gladly have made two 
a day. The road was dusty, the October sunshine was hot and dry, 
the nights were snapping cold, but here at last they were only one day 
out from their new station. Fort Ransom, and Blake had broken bonds 
again. Raising himself on elbow and peering across the blue-shirted 
shoulder of his friend, Ray could see that Mainwaring was still 
glowering at him, and evidently pondering over that reference to 
his having time enough to learn anything. As yet its full signifi- 
cance was not apparent, but it was the policy of wisdom to distract his 
attention and set his wits to work on something else. Like the horse, 
which noble animal Mainwaring almost worshipped, he could consider 
only one point at a time. So up rose Ray and strolled over to him. 

If you\"e no objections, major, like to ask the colonel to let my 
quartermaster sergeant ride into Ransom to-night. He tells me his 
wife is quite ill. The ambulance is going, and will give him a lift. 
We’ll lead his horse with the troop to-morrow.” 

‘‘Why not ride him in to-night?” asked Mainwaring, who had served 
but little under Atherton since the war, and knew not how strict were 
his rules regarding horses. 

“ Because the colonel wishes every horse to share and share alike. 
The sergeant’s horse would have an extra twenty miles if ridden in 
to-night. Yonder comes Stannard’s battalion now,” he said, pointing 
to the dust-cloud sailing slowly towards them from the north. “ He’ll 
bivouac above us, I reckon.” 

“Yes, and spoil our water, like as not,” growled Mainwaring. 
“ But we’ve got the grass and shade.” 

“ Devil doubt you,” muttered Blake, “ and you’ve got the best of 
both.” Then, aloud, “ Ask the old man, with my compliments, if I 
may do him the honor of dining with him to-morrow, Billy. Mrs. 
Atherton has everything ready for his coming. I’ll be bound, while 
your better half and mine and the major’s here can’t come till we get 
there and choose quarters.” 

“Mrs. Mainwaring will be there quicker than I will,” said the 
major, promptly. 

“ That’s all easily explained. Mrs. Mainwaring knows the major’s 
quarters can go to nobody but the major, and she can move in at once. 
We poor devils of troop-leaders must wait till our seniors have chosen. 
What’s more, Mrs. Mainwaring has no nurse and babies to look after.” 

“No, but she’s bringing a companion with her, in the shape of her 
niece that she’s often talked to me about. I think I told you about 
her, — Miss Leroy. She’s been abroad for a year, and wants to come 
and see something of her own country. They ought to reach Butte 
to-night, or early in the morning.” 

“ Will she?” exclaimed Blake. “Then like as not she’ll have an 
escort : Rawson’s coming out with a batch of recruits.” 

“ Bah !” growled Mainwaring, who had little use for Rawson or 
any other officer who was away on leave when his regiment was in the 
field. “Mrs. Mainwaring’s never met him, and, if she had, would 
feel mighty small security in his escort, — a fellow that’ll be held up 
with a whole car-load of passengers by only two robbers.” 


RAY'S RECRUIT, 


447 


Mainwariiig alluded to a matter that was a sore spot in the — th 
and that never yet had been fully explained. But Mr. Rawson, three 
months earlier that summer, had unquestionably been relieved of his 
few valuables at the point of the pistol on the K. P. Road. The regi- 
ment meant to worry the life out of him when he rejoined, but didif t 
like it that Main waring, a new-comer, should be the first to crack the 
whip. Blake almost wanted to blaze up, but thought it best perhaps 
to wait for Ray, and so subsided. 

Ray, however, had sauntered out to the edge of the scanty patch 
of timber, and, shading his eyes with his brown hand, was scanning 
with professional interest the long column of dusty troopers, two abreast, 
that came filing into view around a little point five hundred yards 
away. Well out in their front, short, square, and stocky, rode their 
major, his adjutant, trumpeter, and orderly jogging along behind. To 
him rode the colonefs messenger, the regimental adjutant, and pointed 
out a line some distance up-stream. Thither the head of column 
veered, moving at steady walk. The guidon-bearer, at a signal from 
the battalion adjutant, spurred out to the front, and, with the old 
silken swallow-tail streaming in the wind, loped across the level to a 
point ten yards or so from the bank, was halted there by the young 
ofiBcer in person, and then, lance at rest, he and his horse stood motion- 
less. Never quickening the pace, the captain at the head of Stannard’s 
foremost troop directed his march on this living guide-post. The guidon 
of the second troop, followed speedily by those of the third and fourth 
in like manner, darted out across the prairie, each in succession being 
halted and established at half-distance in rear of his predecessor on 
the line of guides. Each troop directed itself upon its own color; 
each in succession formed line to the left as its leading two came oppo- 
site the guidon ; each was aligned to the right ; then, without loss of 
time, the trumpets sounded, Prepare to dismount the brown carbines 
were jerked from their sockets and tossed over the right shoulder as 
the odd-numbered troopers rode clear of the rank. “ Dismount,^^ 
clamored the trumpet, and down out of sight sank some fifty-odd blue 
flannel shirts and rusty old hats in each line. Form rank.’^ And 
out from among the chargers popped the vanished riders, each laying 
hold of the reins close to the bit as the line reformed and the captain 
said his brief speech : Water as soon as you like, men, and graze 
well out to the north until nightfall. No side lines necessary to-day. 
Dismiss the troop, sergeant.’^ And the next thing a dozen men were 
scampering like mad, lariats and picket-pins swinging, heading for the 
most promising patches of grass. Each picket-pin was stamped home, 
the lariats uncurled to their full length, and then back ran the troopers 
to unsaddle and lead to water. Ten minutes more, and the chargers 
of Stannard^s battalion, perhaps two hundred and fifty in all, were 
being slowly driven in four distinct herds well out upon the north- 
ward slopes, where, after a preliminary roll, each horse set contentedly 
to grazing. Those })re-empted patches close at hand were reserved for 
their further use at night. 

And then the little cook-fires began to blaze along the bank, and 
the pack-trains shambled in, and were unloaded in the twinkling of an 


448 


RAF^S RECRUIT. 


eye. The mules went blinking off to water, and the major, never 
quitting his saddle until his last trooper dismounted, slowly lowered 
himself to earth and went off in search of the colonel. 

If you’ve no objections, sir, I’d like to send a sergeant in ahead 
to-night.” 

Why, Stannard,” said the colonel, looking up from under his hat- 
brim in some surprise, that’s just what Ray’s been asking. Any- 
thing amiss ?” 

Well, his time expires to-morrow, sir. It’s old Bannon, of ^B’ 
Troop, and he’d like to catch the East-bound train, so’s to have all the 
time possible to go and visit his children in Illinois. He’ll re-enlist at 
once.” 

And your man, Ray ?” 

^‘Is Sergeant Merriweather, sir. He says his wife’s at Ransom 
quite sick, and he’s anxious and troubled about her.” 

Isn’t he the man that we had to reprimand for letting certain 
horses stray up on the Belle Fourche?” 

The very man, sir. He is careless at times, and not altogether 
reliable, but he’s one of the smartest, nattiest men I’ve got, and ” 

Didn’t he marry that pretty maid-servant of the Freemans’ after 
we got back from the Ute campaign ?” 

Yes, sir, and Freeman hasn’t forgiven me yet,” answered Captain 
Ray, his white teeth gleaming. ‘^I’m very sure I should be glad to 
have him take her back. She’s turned the heads of some of my best 
men, and is running Merriweather heels over head in debt.” 

The colonel pondered a moment. I greatly dislike to refuse you 
anything,” he said ; but every time we come in from scout or cam- 
paign, since I joined the regiment, no sooner are we within a day’s 
march or so of the home station — or any station, for that matter — than 
several men ask to ride in ahead. At first even the officers did, and 
there were as many as a dozen men. Now we’ve reduced it to two. 
When did Merriweather hear from his wife?” 

The mail rider, sir, going up to the Sioux Agency, met us this 
morning early and gave him a letter. He brought it to me to read. 
It was written by the post-trader’s wife. She says Mrs. Merriweather 
is really seriously ill.” 

Very good. Then he can go by the ambulance. So can your 
man, major. Tell them both to report here at three o’clock. Isn’t 
Merriweather’s time nearly out, Ray ?” 

Only two months to serve, sir, and he says he’s going into busi- 
ness with a brother in Chicago. I lose three non-commissioned officers 
this fall in that way, and one of them I couldn’t take on again : he’s 
all broken down with wounds and rheumatism. You’ll have to favor 
me a bit in the matter of recruits, colonel. I need six, or shall before 
we’re a month older.” 

You shall have the first good man that enlists at Ransom, Ray. 
I’m told we may pick up some first-rate material there, the mines have 
broken so many.” 

All right, colonel ; and I’ll remind you if I see any likely civilian 
hanging around head-quarters. Good-day, sir, and thank you very 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 449 

much/^ So saying, Captain Ray wheeled about and trudged away 
down-stream to make report to his battalion commander. 

^^Did he say Merriweather could go?^’ asked the major, glancing 
up at Ray^s sunshiny face. I wouldif t, if I were in his place.’^ 

He wasn’t over-willing at first,” was the answer. However, 
my fellows will all be wishing themselves back in the field before 
they’ve been home a fortnight, — small blame to them.” 

What’s the reason you’re so down on garrison life, Ray ?” 

I’m not down on it exactly, major, but if it weren’t for the wife 
and boys I’d be glad if we were forever in the field,” answered Ray. 

Men get killed in this Indian business, but they — keep out of trouble. 
There’s Merriweather, now. He was a tip-top sergeant in the Sioux 
campaign. He was one of the best all-round troopers and non-com- 
missioned officers in the regiment all through the campaigns that fol- 
lowed in the next three years, and he’s been running down steadily 
ever since he fell in love with that flibbertigibbet of Freeman’s. Gar- 
rison life and girls spoil many a good cavalryman,” he concluded, 
oracularly. 

Don’t dare me to tell that to Mrs. Ray as your sentiments,” 
grinned the major. 

Oh, everything depends on the girl, of course,” said Ray, growing 
instantly grave. Blakey and I — well, J, at least, owe everything to 
my wife,” he finished, almost reverently. Then presently he spoke 
again. ‘‘But what chance has the average trooper? What manner 
of woman has he to mate with, if he mate at all ? Next batch of re- 
cruits I get should be anchorites, so far as women are concerned.” 

“Sailors are just as bad as soldiers,” said Mainwaring, sagely. 
Whereat Blake ducked his head under his blanket in convulsions of 
delight. 

“ I know, sir,” said Ray, glancing vengefully at the contortions 
of the worn gray slumber-robe, and biting his own lip hard to repress 
the bubbling fun. “ What I mean is that I’d like to get the troop full 
of fellows that couldn’t be twisted around a woman’s finger.” 

“You never will, Ray,” said Mainwaring, thereby proving that he 
knew human nature, if not books. “ You can take your pick of this 
gang that Rawson’s bringing out with him, or of any of the men that 
offer themselves at Ransom, and I’m willing to bet that the next man 
you enlist will be woman-driven from the word go.” 


CHAPTEE II. 

The night express was fifty minutes late already, and engine 783, 
waiting at the Junction with her snow-plough set, was hissing and 
rumbling impatiently. The big brown building, embracing hotel and 
waiting-rooms, ticket- and station-master’s office, loomed up against 
the star-dotted sky. The switch-lights gleamed in crimson, green, and 
dazzling white here, there, and everywhere along the glinting rails. 
Bleary lamps were burning in frost-covered windows, and tiny sparks 
Yol. LIX.— 29 


450 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


fluttered from the pipe of the solitary biped on the platform, a burly 
man in the toil-stained garb of a locomotive engineer, a sturdy fellow 
who limped as he stamped up and down the creaking planks of the 
platform, his hands in his pockets, his eyes everywhere. To him came 
forth his fireman, splitting his mouth with a wedge of bilious-looking 
pound-cake. He strove to speak, but, finding articulation impossible, 
jerked backward his head and pantomimed the process of serving 
himself with a cup of comforting drink, — coffee, presumably, for he 
was fresh from the lunch-counter. 

‘^Come, swallow the rest of that grub, now, and be lively with 
your oil-can. We can’t wait two minutes after she once gets in. No,” 
he continued, as the younger repeated his persuasive pantomime, I 
had my tea at home, and that’s enough. You’ll die of over-eating, 
first thing you know. Do your best now. We’ve got an extra Pull- 
man and a car-load of greenhorns to haul up to Butte this night of all 
others, and I’m betting it’s snowing in the mountains now.” 

So saying, the engineer turned and gazed anxiously westward, 
where even the stars seemed blotted from sight, then quickly whirled 
about and bent his ear. 

Coming at last,” he muttered. That’s old Coyote’s yelp for the 
cross-roads. Damned little wind for whistling has she left, either. 
No wonder No. 3’s late, with nothing better than that limping carcass 
to drag it. She ought to be in the bone-yard, — ought to ’a’ been there 
a year ago. But here’s the beauty,” said he to himself, as he turned 
and laid a loving hand on the massive driving-rod of the huge 
machine. Lively, Scut,” he added : 3’s coming.” 

Scut was descending from the cab as a cat comes down a tree, 
backward. What ’n ’ell they takin’ recruits to Ransom for now ?” 
he asked. The war’s over.” 

It’s to fill the gaps made when the war wasn’t over, young man, 
and mighty hard they’ll find it to fill some of ’em, too. Jim Strang, 
that was killed at Cave Springs, was corporal with me in Bates’s troop 
eight years ago, and there wasn’t a better sergeant in all the cavalry. 
Lo loves a shining mark, or I’d never got hit twice in one day.” 

Would you go back to soldierin’ if you could, Mr. Long?” asked 
the fireman, tilting up his long-necked can as he thrust the nozzle deep 
in between the spokes of a massive driver. 

I ? Give me back the legs I had before the Sioux made a sieve 
of my skin, and it isn’t the rail I’d be riding, but the best sorrel in 
Billy Ray’s troop, and with the best office in it, and that’s first ser- 
geant.” 

It’s takin’ chances to be in the cavalry these days,” said he of the 
oil-can, listening to the low, far-away rumble of the coming train. 
‘^Do you see her head-light yet?” 

She isn’t through the cut,” was Long’s answer. As to taking 
chances, they’ve done nothing but take chances in that regiment ever 
since the war; yet there isn’t a day of our lives we don’t take chances, 
and bigger chances, right here on this mountain division.” 

A tall young fellow in travelling-cap and ulster had come out from 
the lunch-room and was strolling over towards the hissing engine. 


RA Y RECR Um 451 

He stopped and listened as Long spoke, then seemed to be pondering 
over the words and looking to the engine-man for explanation. 

How do you mean asked Scut, pausing in his work and look- 
ing up. We haven^t had a ^ hold-up’ on the road for over a year.” 

Neither have we had a head-on collision, nor spreading rails, nor 
a plunge from a trestle, but they are only three of the things likely to 
occur any minute, especially when trains are running behind as we are 
to-night, — all on account of that one-eyed Coyote that’s peeping at 
you down yonder.” 

It was the head-light of No. 3, just dawning on the view at Mile 
End Crossing, to which the engineer referred. 

Watch how slowly she comes,” he added. The old maid is 
about worn out. Here’s the girl that can shake that train up grade as 
though ’twas made of bandboxes. I’ll bet you we make Butte by 
seven o’clock.” 

I’ll bet you don’t, if you’ll let me in,” was the cool interjection 
of the young man ulster-clad ; for Butte’s my objective point.” 

What do you know about it, or about railroading ?” asked Long, 
suspiciously. 

“ As much as you did when you quit soldiering, and no more, 
wherein we have much in common, Mr. Long ; but here’s where the 
difference comes in. You quit soldiering to take to the railroad ; I 
quit the road to take to soldiering.” 

Oh, I see. Then you’re an officer ?” queried Long, his accus- 
tomed lips framing the little word ^^sir” and almost resenting his 
enforced omission of the once familiar monosyllable. Long said sir” 
to no one under the division superintendent now. 

I ? Devil a bit,” was the laughing answer. I’m not even a 
lance, — not even a recruit. Man, I haven’t signed my papers yet.” 

Then take a fool’s advice and don’t sign them,” interposed Long. 

You’ve got no call to go soldiering. Such as you come in only when 
it’s whiskey or women or cards.” 

Say it’s all three, if you like,” was the half-laughing answer. I 
heard of you as one of the old cavalrymen at the barracks yonder,” 
and the stranger nodded carelessly over his shoulder in the direction 
of the post, established long years before when the road was being 
built. They sent me there by mistake. It’s the cavalry I want, not 
infantry.” 

The engineer looked the speaker over in surprise. Away down 
the track the head-light of the incoming train was growing bigger 
every moment, and the rumble of the bulky approach could be plainly 
heard. 

You don’t look like a man who had to take to soldiering,” he 

said. 

‘^Oh, I’m not,” was the prompt, good-natured reply. ^^I do it 
simply because I’ve a hankering that way, and — no other,” he added, 
under his breath. Perhaps you can tell me something of the regi- 
ment at Ransom ?” 

Enough about it to talk from here to ’Frisco, but there’s no tim« 
now. We’ve got to pull out with that train the moment their engine 


452 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


gets out of our way. But you’re the first man I ever met out here 
who would openly say he was going to enlist. They all come up 
shamefaced like, as though it was the last thing they wanted people to 
know.” 

^^Oh, I never found it paid to sail under false colors,” was the 
answer, in a tone of gay good humor, not unmixed with a dash of 
reckless disdain. I’ve nothing to lose. But I would like to ask 
you something about the troop commanders there at Ransom. Can’t 
you give me a lift in the cab? I’ve a pocketful of better weeds than 
you get out this way, if that’s any inducement.” And, so saying, he 
reached down into the deep pocket of his ulster and brought out a 
handful of cigars. 

Mr. Long’s manner changed in an instant. ’Gainst orders,” said 
he, briefly, gazing suspiciously into the stranger’s face as he spoke. 

Better get your ticket, if you’re going to Butte.” And, swinging 
himself up to his perch, he grasped the reversing lever with one hand 
and the throttle with the other. Scut laid hold of the cord and set the 
big bell to swinging w’arning of their coming. The huge machine 
began slowly to move rearward as the much maligned and belated 
Coyote came hissing by on the fireman’s side, and that begrimed young 
man availed himself of the chance to chaff his fellow-workers in the 
flitting cab. He took no heed, therefore, of the stranger’s parting hail, 
but Long was eying him closely and listening for any word. 

‘^I’ve got tickets all right,” said the lonely man on the platform, 
^^but I’d rather sit up in a cab than sleep in a Pullman. It’s all 
right, though. Have a smoke anyhow.” And with lavish hand he 
tossed half a dozen cigars into the cab as he walked beside the moving 
engine. Then, with a cordial wave of his hand, he turned aside to the 
lunch-room, into the door- way of which a half-score of hungry pas- 
sengers from the arriving train were eagerly pushing. 

‘‘Only three minutes, gents,” sung out the conductor. “We’ve 
got to make up time before we reach the Rockies — can’t do it there.” 
And he darted into the train-despatcher’s office to register and receive 
his orders. 

Meantime Scut, still clinging to the bell-cord with one hand, was 
scooping up cigars with the right. “ That fellow’s a prince,” said he. 
“Just look at that for a seegar.” And he held it admiringly up to 
Long to see, and was amazed at the gloom in his companion’s face. 
“Why, what’s up?” he asked. 

“ What’s up ?” repeated the engineer, as he slowed down on nearing 
the forward end of the mail-car. “ A hold-up, unless I’m mistaken, 
and the fewer of them cigars you stick in your mouth the more brains 
you’ll have left in the morning.” With a sharp click the heavy 
coupling-pin was driven home, and Long sent the reversing lever over 
to the front, then poked his head out of the side of the cab and shouted 
to a train-hand he saw hurrying by, “ Where you got them recruits, 
Billy?” 

“ First coach behind the baggage,” was the answer, as the man 
glanced over his shoulder. “ There’s some of ’em now.” And, as he 
spoke, bounding, laughing, and dodging through the knot of hungry 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


453 


passengers, half a dozen young fellows in fatigue uniform or bright 
blue overcoats went hastening by to the lunch-room, followed by 
shouts from somewhere back along the train. Presently a middle-aged 
man in the garb of a sergeant of cavalry came stalking after them, a 
man who seemed just aroused from sound sleep, and not too well 
pleased as a consequence. 

Get back to that car, you men,^^ he ordered, authoritatively. 
Didn’t I tell you not a soul of you could leave it without my per- 
mission ?” 

But the recruits were lined up at the lunch-counter by this time, 
and gleefully shouting for coffee and reaching for doughnuts, pie, any- 
thing edible within reach. The waiter looked perturbed and hesitated. 
The proprietor came hurrying over from his desk. The little throng 
of passengers seemed sympathetic and interested. Who’s to pay for 
this ?” demanded the owner, as the sergeant came fuming and almost 
fighting his way into the crowded room. Have your men got any 
money ?” 

’Course we have,” sung out a jovial Pat, and the credit of a 
benevolent and paternal government to back it, and there’s my last 
cint to prove what I say,” he added, whacking down a silver dollar on 
the counter. 

That ain’t enough by the mate to it,” said the proprietor, gruffly. 
Come, clear out, you boys. Train’s going ; no time for coffee. This 
will pay for the things you’re eating,” said he; and he made a grab for 
the dollar, but Pat was too quick for him. 

’Board,” shouted a hoarse voice on the platform without. 

Back to your car, you men,” ordered the sergeant. 

Give me that dollar,” demanded the boss. 

Give us the coffee,” replied the recruits, and for once the populace 
seemed to side with the soldier. The tall young man in the ulster and 
travelling-cap lounged up to the counter and tossed a two-dollar bill at 
the angry manager. Give them what they want,” said he, and be 
quick about it. Have some coffee yourself, sergeant. There’ll be no 
other chance till you get to Butte.” Then, with swift, significant, 
downward glance at the flap of a pocket, he lifted into view the silver 
top of a sizable flask, and the sergeant grinned and nodded apprecia- 
tively. The steaming cups were slid along the board, the embryo 
soldiers laughing and hustling good-naturedly, pouring the hot liquid 
into the thick stone saucers and blowing industriously at the yellow- 
brown flood. The conductor came to the door and stormed ; the 
passengers began to edge away for their cars. No. 783 gave a warn- 
ing whoop or two, and the fireman pulled at the bell-cord, but the 
blue-coats wouldn’t budge. 

Go ahead. Long. Damned if Pll hold this train another second,” 
shouted the conductor, with energetic wave of his lantern. Hiss went 
the stop-cocks. The big engine quivered and trembled in response, 
and with convulsive cough a volume of inky smoke was belched from 
the stack. Scut’s bell clanged furiously, but only very slowly the 
long, ponderous train began to move. The crockery rattled and the 
windows shook as the massive engine came boiling and rumbling and 


454 


RAY’S RECRUIT, 


panting by. The conductor heard his name called by the engineer and 
hurried alongside. ‘^Look out for that kid in the big ulster. Tell 
you why at Willow Springs/^ was the hoarse warning, as, with slowly 
quickening speed, old 783 went ponderously on. The conductor 
looked dazed. The joyous band of blue-coats came tumbling forth as 
the foremost car rolled smoothly past, and, agile as monkeys, leaped to 
the platform of the baggage and smoker,^’ waving their caps and 
shouting jovial farewells. The sergeant, once more assuming official 
relations, sternly ordered them within their own car, and bade them 
keep quiet, that the other men, wearied, might sleep. Then the con- 
ductor came hurriedly in and glanced eagerly about him as the sergeant 
looked at his watch. 

It was just half-past one. 

Who’s your friend in the ulster?” demanded the conductor. 

Where’d he go ?” 

Never saw him before in my life,” said the sergeant. I s’posed 
we left him there,” he added, with regretful thought of that handsome, 
capacious, silver-topped flask. 

‘‘Did you see where he went?” asked the conductor of the brake- 
man who followed in. 

“ Thought he jumped on the next car,” was the answer. “ He had 
a grip-sack, I know.” 

“ Go and see,” was the brief order. 

The official turned once more to the sergeant, who was settling him- 
self back in his seat. “ Say, you’ll have to take better care of your 
men,” he began. “ I can’t have them bouncing out at every stopping- 
place and delaying the train.” 

“ You don’t,” said the sergeant, with a yawn. “ That’s the first 
time any one of them has got off, and they wouldn’t have done that if 
it wasn’t that they were hard up for coffee.” 

“You should have given them coffee last night at the supper 
station,” said the conductor, wrathfully. 

“ I did, and it was so bad they threw it away. This was better, 
and I’m sorry they weren’t all awake to have some. They’ll need it 
before we get to Butte. What time can we make it now, d’you 
s’pose ?” 

“Not before seven, if we do then. We have two freights and a 
cattle-train to meet, and everything’s running crooked to-night, even 
if we have no other trouble. Sure you never saw that fellow in the 
ulster before ?” 

“ Sure. What’s the matter with him ? He treated like a nabob.” 

“That’s one reason I want to know all about him. What arms 
have you fellows ?” 

“ None at all,” was the answer, as the sergeant looked up in sur- 
prise. “ I’ve a revolver, of course, but that’s all. Why ? You never 
have a ‘ hold-up’ along here, do you ?” 

But the conductor did not answer. The train had “struck its 
gait,” as he expressed it, now, and was swaying as it tore westward 
along the rattling rails. The brakeman was hastening back to the car. 
“See him?” queried the conductor, impatiently. 


RAV^S RECRUIT, 


455 


No, sir : he’s gone back to the sleeper.” 

Somewere among the drowsing car-load of recruits a voice was 
uplifted in not unmelodious song. Most of the men were sleeping 
soundly, but the lively squad of night-owls just bundled aboard, 
refreshed by their coffee and bite at the station, seemed desirous of 
further entertainment. ^^Odd,” said the conductor, ‘^I’ve hauled 
many a lot of poor devils out to Wyoming and beyond ; most of ’em 
never came back, but I never yet saw a lot that didn’t sing. What 
on earth have they got to sing for?” 

The Lord knows,” answered the sergeant, and I’ve been soldier- 
ing twenty years.” 

Always in the cavalry ?” 

Yes, all but one ’listment in a casemate that brought me nearer 
to desertion than ever I thought to be.” 

Never meet my engineer, — Jimmy Long? He used to be ser- 
geant in the cavalry out here. Got shot through the legs in an Indian 
fight seven or eight years ago and had to quit.” 

Know of him well, as most of us did, and I’d be glad to see him. 
He’s pulling us to-night, is he?” 

Yes, and I wish you’d come forward with me when we get to 
Willow Springs, only a few miles ahead now. He thinks there’s some- 
thing wrong with that young fellow in the ulster. I’ve got to go back 
and look him up. Meet me on the platform, right-hand side, when 
we stop, will you?” 

The sergeant nodded, and the conductor went his way. 

In the foremost sleeper he found the object of his search, already 
comfortably ensconced in the smoking-compartment, his ulster thrown 
aside, his feet on the opposite seat, a fragrant cloud of smoke curling 
from the tip of his cigar. He had raised the window, and was gazing 
out upon a spangled firmament above, a black void where lay the 
barren earth below. Without a word, his cigar still between his teeth, 
he felt in the waistcoat-pocket of a well-made travelling-suit of tweed, 
took out a card-case, and extracted therefrom his railway and berth 
tickets and handed them to the lantern-bearing official. 

The conductor studied the former closely. It was a through” 
from Chicago to Butte, unlimited. He turned it upside down, hind 
side foremost, and still seemed to find nothing amiss. 

Where’d you get this ?” he presently asked, glancing keenly at the 
young man from under his cap visor. The passenger, still without 
removing his cigar, simply pointed to the head of the ticket, which 
showed that it was purchased at the office of the C. R. I. & P. in 
Chicago. ‘^Stopped off at Platte Junction ?” asked the conductor. 

‘‘Yes. What time will we reach Butte?” 

“ Not before seven. Plenty of time to go to bed and sleep.” And 
the tone of the railway official plainly indicated that that was what the 
conductor thought the young man ought to do, instead of mooning to 
all hours of the night in the smoking-room. The passenger gravely 
nodded acquiescence and said nothing. After an irresolute pause the 
conductor again spoke : “Did you tell the porter to show you to your 
berth ?” 


456 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


The traveller in tweeds was evidently a youth of varying moods. 
Chatting with the engineer he was frank, jovial, light-hearted, even 
confiding. In the brief scene with the troopers he was laughing and 
friendly, even lavish, from their point of view. Was it some sense of 
suspicion, some subtle intuition that he was the object of a special 
scrutiny on the conductor’s part,= — that he was being subjected to a 
cross-questioning never thought of in the case of other patrons of the 
road? Something in the conductor’s look, tone, and manner had given 
him umbrage. Like some itinerant clam, storm-tossed and at odds 
with the world, he drew within his shell and clamped the jaws of his 
reserve. Something akin to a frown settled between his eyebrows. 
He looked coolly, almost defiantly, straight into the half-closed eyes of 
his questioner, with a pair of wide-open keen blue orbs of his own, 
and under his soft brown moustache his curved pink lips set like a trap. 
For a moment he made no reply, then finally answered, ‘^No.” 

Mr. Jarvis was an old hand. He had run trains over the Trans- 
continental ever since it first bored a way through the hunting-grounds 
of the Sioux, and many a tramp had he hustled off the cars in mid- 
prairie, but this was no tramp. This was a self-possessed, well-dressed, 
fine-looking tourist, and, but for the straight, sharp, American clip to 
his words, rather of the English type. He nettled the conductor, and 
the conductor had nettled him. Each was now bristling at every point, 
and in no mood to appreciate the other’s position. 

Well, do you propose to sit up all night?” was the next question, 
propounded in a tone common enough on the far-away Western railway 
a decade or so ago. 

What earthly business is it of yours whether I do or not ? I’ve 
bought a berth and the privilege of using it or not as I see fit.” 

The train was slowing. It was nearing Willow Springs. The 
conductor had other duties to attend to, and knew he must quit the 
field. 

‘‘ I’ll see you later, my cocky friend,” he muttered to himself, as 
he turned angrily away, with distinct sense of defeat, then let himself 
out on the platform with a most unprofessional slam of the sleeper 
door. 

It was a long hundred yards up to the engine, but Jarvis hastened 
through the day-car and smoker until he came to the recruit-car plat- 
form, by which time the train was at a stand and he could safely spring 
off and run alongside. Under the dim light of the station, the tall 
figure of the cavalry sergeant loomed before his eyes, his chevrons, 
stripes, and buttons gleaming. The station- keeper came sleepily forth 
as the conductor stepped into the dim beam of light from the office 
window. “ Come on up to the engine with me,” he said, and, wondering, 
the drowsy servitor followed. The platform was short, and the trio 
presently had to spring down and trudge along the prairie sod by the 
track side. Long was waiting for them, leaning out from his cab. At 
sight of the once familiar crossed sabres and buttons a gleam of pleasure 
shot across his grimy face. 

Hullo,” he said. I used to know pretty much every fellow that 
wore the stripes in that regiment.” 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


457 


And pretty much every fellow in it knew you or of you. My 
name’s Kearney/’ said the sergeant, reaching up a hand. But the 
conductor had no time for ceremonies. 

What’s this about the feller in the ulster ?” he demanded. He’s 
ticketed through to Butte from Chicago, and is sassy as they make ’em. 
What d’ you know ?” 

I don’t know anything. But you remember that affair on the 
K. P. last July, — the swell that shot the expressman near Wallace? 
Well, he was just such another good-looking fellow as this, well dressed 
and all that, with lots of money. What makes me suspicion this chap 
is that he says he’s out here to enlist ; wanted to ride in the cab and 
talk about it to me. Who ever heard of a fellow wanting to enlist 
until he was dead broke or half starved? This young fellow’s pockets 
are full of cigars.” 

He don’t want to enlist,” chimed in Sergeant Kearney, derisively. 
‘^He has a roll as thick as my hand. Treated all the crowd back 
there at the Junction.” 

You hear that?” said Long. ^^It’s just like as not he’s aboard 
to find out who’s in that sleeper and who’s armed in the day-car, and 
we’ll meet his pals somewhere up in the foot-hills. Better let some 
of the soldiers into the express-car and one or two here with me after 
we pass No. 12. Where does she side-track for us?” 

We’ll get orders at Boulder Creek,” answered the conductor. 

I’ll watch our cocky friend till then. No. 12 can’t pull out of 
Thunder Gap till we get there. Now let her go for all she’s worth, 
Jimmy.” 

Then back to the platform he hurried, eagerly explaining to the 
silent station-master the cause of their delay earlier in the night. The 
sergeant sprang aboard, and Jarvis swung his lantern. 

You haven’t heard of 12 at all ?” he shouted. 

Not since she left Pawnee,” was the answering cry. They’ll 
hold her at the Gap.” 

And now as the sergeant re-entered the stuffy coach the songster 
had ceased. The melodious sounds had given place to many a snore. 
He glanced again at his watch, and the hands were pointing to five 
minutes of two. 


CHAPTER III. 

Rushing westward through the night, the great train was indeed 
going for all she was worth.” Twenty-five miles away lay the foot- 
hills. There began the tortuous up-hill climb to the high plateau at 
Pawnee, forty miles of twist, turn, tug, and pull, that in the earlier 
days of the road were never attempted without two engines. Now the 
mammoths like 783 scorned even a pusher. But to-night she had to 
haul an extra sleeper and an extra coach, both crowded, the latter 
packed with recruits, the former with a joyous party of excursionists, 
bound for the Pacific coast. It was swift, straight, smooth running 
along the flats of the broad valley, dotted here and there as it was with 


458 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


farms and ranches, and traversed over the old buffalo ranges by great 
herds of horned cattle. This crisp, moonless, star-lit night all the 
Western world was dark and still, but for the clank and rush of the 
flashing monster with its long, dimly-lighted train. The lonely occu- 
pant of the smoking-compartment, gazing silently out upon the north- 
ward heavens, had forgotten to keep alive the tiny fire of his cigar, and 
it had died unnoticed between his long, white, slender fingers. A 
glance at the handsome watch he drew from his waistcoat-pocket told 
him it was almost two o^clock as, after a brief stop at some unknown, 
almost unseen, station, the train rolled on again. The porter had come 
in to ask some question about how he would have his pillow, front or 
back, and was told it made no difference. Would the gentleman like 
one here in the smoking-room ? No, he would turn in presently. 
Call him in plenty of time for Butte. Then the porter tiptoed off to 
the rear of the heavily curtained aisle and curled himself up in a 
vacant section, leaving the stranger to his thoughts. 

And that these were sad there could be no doubt whatever. His 
face as it sank into repose looked white and drawn in the dim light 
of the overhanging lamp. Once or twice, as he gazed out upon the 
waste of darkness, his eyes seemed to fill, his lip to quiver with strange, 
strong emotion. Once he bent forward, covered his face with both 
hands, and leaned his elbows on his knees, then suddenly started, pulled 
himself together, braced up’^ as he perhaps would have expressed it, 
thrust the moist end of the cigar between his teeth, found it cold and 
unresponsive, tossed it away, arose, gave himself a shake, took the flask 
from his ulster-pocket and passed through the door-way to the lavatory 
where were the ice-water tanks, and started despite himself. 

A haggard face, flattened against the glass of the forward door- way, 
was peering in at him, — a face that was instantly withdrawn. 

This was before the days of vestibuled cars. Seizing the door-knob 
and laying his flask on one of the basins, the young fellow quickly let 
himself out upon the platform and glanced about him. There on the 
lowest step, clinging to the hand-rail, cringed and cowered the figure 
of a man who turned his head and gazed piteously, pleadingly up at 
the tall stranger. A tramp beyond doubt, and a shivering wretch he 
was, for the night air was sharply cold. A powerful hand was laid 
upon the shoulder of the crouching figure and heaved it up, and the 
poor creature^s teeth chattered as he made some inaudible plea. 

I can’t hear you,” said the man in tweeds. Come in here. 
You’re half frozen.” And he would have led him into the sleeper, 
but found that the snap-latch was set, — that he had locked himself out. 
Still clinging to his prisoner, he led on into the rear door of the day-coach 
ahead. The lights were burning blear and dim. The passengers, 
curled or sprawled about their seats, were sleeping as best they could. 
A brakeman’s lantern lay on the floor at the head of the aisle, and the 
brakeman sat in a forward seat, half dozing, wholly unconscious of 
the addition to the car-load. 

Stealing a ride, I suppose?” said our traveller, presently. 

Where’re you trying to get to ?” And with a shrug of his shoulders 
he glanced pityingly at his quaking captive. 


EAY\S RECRUIT. 


459 


To Pawnee, — half-way over the range, was the shivering answer. 

IVe got a sick wife there, and was heatin’ my way as w^ell as I 

could ” But the poor fellow gave it up. Cold and misery and 

hunger were too much for him. The train was slowing up again; 
another prairie station, — they had them every ten or dozen miles. 
The brakeman shook himself, picked up his lantern, and went out in 
front. The party in tweeds shoved his new acquaintance into the first 
vacant seat, swung himself to the ground the moment the train stopped, 
ran back, and tapped under a rear window of the sleeper, and the sash 
was raised and the porter’s head popped out. 

Let me in at the rear door, porter,” said Tweeds. I locked 
myself out.” 

The negro recognized the voice of his well-dressed passenger, sniffed 
a double fee, and jumped for the door. 

‘‘ Beg pardon, suh ; sorry, suh, but we has to lock these doors at 
night out hyuh : tramps come in ’most any time if we don’t.” 

But the young man smiled carelessly, hastened through the car, got 
his flask, set the latch so that he could re-enter, and the next minute 
was administering a stiff drink to the rag-heap on the rear seat. Once 
more the man essayed to tell his story. He was penniless, he hadn’t 
even anything left to sell, but out from an inner pocket he took an old 
worn card photograph and showed it to his jiew-found friend. My 
wife and baby,” said he, with a choke, but the baby’s gone, — thank 
God.” 

‘^Here, take another drink,” said Tweeds. Then back to the 
smoker he went, and reappeared with some sandwiches. The train 
again moved on. The brakeman returned, became aware of the new- 
comers, and came down and curiously inspected them. The liquor, the 
warmth, the food, and human sympathy were restoring courage to the 
abject object of a few minutes before. He looked up without a quaver 
at the brakeman’s hail, but Tweeds spoke for him. I found this 
poor fellow back here a few miles half frozen, and hauled him in. He 
only wants to . go on to Pawnee. It’s all right : he can pay his fare 
when the conductor comes.” 

The brakeman went off suspiciously to hunt up his chief and report, 
and the conductor promptly appeared. His face grew darker at sight 
of the two. He held irresolutely the ten-dollar bill handed him by 
Tweeds, and looked from one man to the other in deep distrust. I 
don’t understand this,” he said. ^‘How’d you — where’d you get 
aboard ?” 

‘‘At Willow Springs,” said the tramp. “ I walked there from the 
Junction. I’d ’a’ frozen if it hadn’t been for this gentleman.” 

“ I can’t change this,” said the conductor. “ I’ll fetch it presently.” 
And, nodding to his brakeman to follow him, he hurried up the aisle. 
At the forward end of the car he whispered, “ Watch those two like a 
cat, now. I’m going forward to get the sergeant and some of his men 
and seat them here where they can keep an eye on that precious pair. 
There’s fun ahead for somebody this night, but, by God, they don’t 
catch old Bill Jarvis napping. You stay here, now, till I come.” 

But no sooner were they gone than the tramp began brokenly to 


460 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


heap thanks and blessings on his benefactor, and the latter impatiently 
turned away. That’s all right/’ said he. Never mind that. I’m 
glad to help, for I believe your story. The conductor will give you 
the change when he comes in. Now, good-night : I’ve got to turn in.” 

‘^But — say; Mister; Stranger, — hold on one minute. I — I want 
to pay this back — some day. How’ll I know you ? Where’ll I send 
it?” 

But Tweeds shook his head, waved him off, strode back to the 
sleeper, sprung the latch against pursuit, then half filled a glass from 
his flask, gulped the contents down, and reseated himself in the 
smoking-compartment. That’s the first man I’ve found in a fort- 
night,” said he, more miserable than I am.” 

With that he took some letters from his pocket, glanced them over, 
and tore the envelopes to shreds, sending the fragments sailing on the 
night. At a small card photograph in a flat Russia leather case, a 
portrait of a laughing girlish face, he gazed lingeringly, then returned 
it to an inner pocket. ‘^No one would know it now,” he muttered. 
Next he lifted from his card-case a dozen or more pasteboards that bore 
in plain, heavy script the words ‘^Mr. Darcy Hunter Gray,” ripped 
them into shreds, and sent them flying. As calmly and methodically he 
searched through every pocket for every scrap of paper, bills or billet- 
doux, anything that could tend to establish his identity ; glanced 
dubiously at the monogram on the back of his watch ; scraped the 
lettering out of the crown of his hat; took a fountain-pen from his 
pocket and some paper and envelopes from his satchel ; wrote with 
infinite difficulty, owing to the swaying of the car, two brief notes 
which he enclosed and stowed under the flap of his bag, then once 
more glanced at his watch. It was two forty-five, and No. 783 was 
whistling for Boulder Creek. At last they were out of the valley. 
Now for the climb up the divide. 

One cigar,” he muttered. I let the other go out.” His match- 
box had disappeared. He tried one pocket after another, without 
result. Neither was there one to be had in the compartment. The 
train had stopped, and he could hear footsteps on a wooden platform 
and the muflfled voices of men. Tiptoeing through the long, dim, 
curtain-bordered aisle, he was suddenly checked. Out from a narrow 
opening between the curtains of the second section came a slender little 
white hand, holding a silver travelling-cup, and a soft voice, silvery 
as the cup, murmured, ‘‘Oh, porter, would you kindly get me some 
water?” Mr. Gray took the cup, filled it, restored it with a bow to 
the unseen occupant, watched the lily-white hand, with its few treasures 
of rings, slip back between the folds, then aroused the porter, proffered 
his request for matches, and asked if there was any possibility of the 
ladies being incommoded by his smoking. 

“No, suh, not a bit, suh. They can’t smell it when you stay in 
the smoking-room. There’s only two ladies in the car, suh. Both 
going up to Butte, — Mrs. Main waring and a young lady with her.” 

“ Know her name?” 

“ No, suh, I don’t, suh. The lady with her calls her Pet mos’ the 
time.” 


RAY’S RECRUIT. 


461 


Mr. Gray once more returned to his compartment, lighted his cigar, 
and seated himself in the corner by the open window. The train still 
lay at the station. Voices still echoed among the dingy wooden 
buildings, and a light or two flickered about the platform. The con- 
ductor’s voice was presently heard. He was interrogating the station- 
agent, and Gray, seated close to the open casement, couldn’t help 
hearing. 

Both took tickets to Pawnee ?” 

^‘Yes, both. Left their horses here in Hank’s stable and took 
supper. No, they haven’t been drinking at all.” 

Mr. Jarvis lowered his voice. He was talking eagerly, but only 
the answer was audible. 

Oh, of course ; cowboys always are. Each has his revolver and 
knife. JBut you’ll see ’em for yourself : they’re in the smoking-car.” 

Sure nobody knew ’em around here ?” 

Certain. They said they’d never been here before.” 

Mr. Jarvis waved his lantern. Well, we’ve got to go,” said he, 
but you keep your eyes and ears open, and wire after us. I sup- 
pose it’s all right about No. 12,” he shouted, as he swung on the 
platform. 

The station -agent’s voice followed them out into the night. 

She’s coming along all right. Suppose you’ll meet her at the 
Gap. She’s due there at three ten.” 

‘^Due there in flve minutes,” thought Mr. Gray to himself, as he 
meditatively puffed at his fine havana, ‘^and by good rights I should 
have been sleeping the sleep of the just and innocent hours ago.” The 
train soon seemed laboring in a heavy sea. The hoarse panting of the 
engine came throbbing back on the night. The huge Pullman rolled 
deep, first to one side awhile, then to the other, as it trailed on around 
the sharp reverse curves of some unseen grade. Out of the darkness 
to the right and against the northern stars loomed up dim, bulky 
shapes, and Gray realized that the foot-hills were reached, that the 
long tortuous climb was beginning. Up, up, higher and higher 
steamed the straining giant in the lead, the dense smoke-clouds rolling 
rearward lighted brilliantly every few seconds by the glare from the 
roaring furnace into which Scut’s shovel was heaping coal by the 
bushel. No. 783 was doing her best, as Long predicted, but even her 
superb lungs and tempered muscles could barely drag so heavy a 
burden. Only nine or ten miles an hour was she making now, thought 
Gray, as once more the sleeper door was opened, and the conductor, 
followed by a brakeman, bustled in. He glared suspiciously into the 
dim recess of the smoking-compartment, the brakeman peering over 
his shoulder. 

Ain’t you going to bed to-night ?” he asked. 

Presently,” yawned Gray, if I get sleepy.” 

Your friend there in the other car hasn’t lost much time. He’s 
snoring like he hadn’t slept for six weeks. Where’d he say he 
lived?” 

Pawnee.” 

‘^Know him — there?” 


462 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


No, nor anybody else/^ 

Never been out here before 

Gray was in no mood for talk, much less for cross-examination. 
He shrugged his broad shoulders impatiently. Never.’^ 

The conductor hesitated, looked long and fixedly at his passenger, 
studying what he could see of his face, figure, and clothes in that dim 
light. He turned half reluctantly away, then turned back. 

Well, if you want any sleep before we get to Butte you’d better 
be getting it,” said he, with that broad freedom of manner and absence 
of conventional restraint begotten of years in the boundless West, and 
then stood awaiting the result. 

It came, not too soothingly or satisfactorily. 

When I want it. I’ll take it.” 

The conductor drew away with distinct sense of another defeat. 
He stirred up the porter with no gentle touch. How many of your 
passengers have got guns ?” he asked. 

The negro started from his seat, dazed and frightened. ^^Only 
two or three of ’em, that I see,” was the answer. That officer in 
lower 3, and two gentlemen in 8 and 9. What’s the matter?” 

Nothing as yet, but I’ve a good mind to wake the lieutenant,” 
said Jarvis, his fingers working nervously, as he glanced about the car. 
The porter’s eyes were big, his eyeballs staring. 

Wait till I come back,” said Mr. Jarvis, presently, and let him- 
self out at the rear door. The last sleeper was dark and silent. 
Every curtain seemed drawn. Jarvis found his bunch of keys, and 
after a few seconds’ fumble opened the door. The air within was close, 
almost stifling, for every section was occupied. He found the porter 
snoring in the smoking-room, stirred him vigorously, and propounded 
rapid questions. The bewildered darky answered to the point. Some 
of the young men among his excursionists might have pistols in their 
grips, but he’d only seen one in a hip pocket. There were ten ladies 
and twelve men, he said, all unconscious of danger of any kind, and, 
as it was a chartered car and they were out for a long pleasure-trip, 
no doubt there was plenty of money, to say nothing of watches and 
jewelry, in the party. It was the first of the kind that had come up 
the road for a month. Jarvis knew it had been well advertised. 
What more likely than that the daring fellows who had made things 
lively on the other road should have planned to hold up this particular 
train? What better place could they select than the lonely, rugged, 
almost mountainous tract between Thunder Gap and Boulder Creek ? 
And if they weren’t already boarding his train, one or two at a time, 
just as they did on the K. P., then call him a Chinaman. That 
swagger and stylish young man at the Junction, ^^salooning the 
soldiers and making himself solid with them,” the shivering tramp at 
Willow Springs who was so promptly found and so lavishly paid for 
and provided for by the same suspicious party Fancy his enlisting !” 
thought the conductor ; that cock-and-bull story that he told Long 
was enough to damn him from the start”), and now these two cowboys 
in the smoker, — fellows that took supper and left their plugs at 
Hank’s and said they were going up to Pawnee for a flyer, but allowed 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 463 

they knew nobody there, or in that part of the valley. Jarvis felt 
more uneasy with every minute. 

‘‘ I^m blessed if I don^t think I ought to wake some of the likeliest 
of these young fellows/^ said he to the porter; ‘^but I’ll go and have 
out the lieutenant anyhow.” 

Suiting action to the word, back he went to the forward sleeper. 

Wake the gentleman in No. 3,” said he to the porter, as he re-entered, 
and found that dusky guardian eagerly, anxiously awaiting him. 

He’s gittin’ up, suh. I done called him.” And at the moment, 
rubbing a pair of bleary, sleepy, red-rimmed eyes with one hand and 
buttoning a cavalry sack-coat with the other, a stocky, heavily built 
man of about thirty-five came lurching down the aisle. Briefly the 
conductor told his suspicions and asked what help he could have in case 
of trouble. The cavalryman was evidently a trifle hard to rouse. He 
seemed slow of comprehension. He pondered a bit, looking dumbly 
from the conductor to the porter, with eyes that did not clear as rapidly 
as they should have done. At last he said, — 

^^One of them in this car?” 

Yes, smoking in the compartment yonder.” 

Following the conductor, the officer meandered up the aisle. The 
Pullman was swaying violently now. The train had reached the 
summit of the divide and was rushing down the westward slope at a 
speed that became swifter every moment. The lieutenant stopped at 
his berth and rummaged under a pillow. 

You’re not getting a gun now ?” whispered the conductor, warn- 
ingly. 

No, — only a pocket pistol,” was the answer, as the blue blouse 
straightened up and produced a half-filled flask. 

I wish your men, those recruits, had arms,” muttered the con- 
ductor, as they went on again. Then he held up a warning hand. 
They were just squeezing through the narrow passage between the 
smoking-compartment and the side of the car. Wait till I see what 
he’s doing,” said Jarvis, and disappeared around the corner. Presently 
he beckoned, and, flask in hand, the lieutenant followed on, glancing 
casually at the dim form near the window, stepped to the wash-stand 
and found a tumbler, half filled it with liquor, and proffered it to the 
conductor, who shook his head. The soldier poured in a little water, 
and swallowed it all at a gulp. 

Now,” said he, let’s have a look at your man.” 

The conductor stepped inside the smoker, feigning to try to de- 
cipher the writing on a card he held in his hand, but, as though the 
light were too dim, reached up and turned higher the flame, brightly 
illuminating the little compartment in a moment. Gray may have 
been dozing. He glanced quickly up, as though startled, and his eyes 
met those of the stout man in cavalry uniform. For a moment they 
looked at each other, searchingly and without a word. A flush as of 
surprise and annoyance began to mount to the civilian’s face ; a flush 
that was not of surprise was already manifest on that of the soldier. 
The conductor glanced from one to the other as though about to speak. 

Suddenly the night was rent by one sharp, quick, almost agonized 


464 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


shriek from the engine, far ahead. Suddenly, so suddenly that it almost 
hurled Jarvis and the lieutenant off their feet, the air-brakes gripped 
like a vice, the whizzing wheels instantly checking their way, the 
smooth, swift motion changed to a jerky, grinding, straining series of 
bumps. Jarvis, turning white as a sheet, sprang to the door the instant 
he could recover balance. For six, eight seconds the Pullman went 
thumping ahead, slower and slower every second, yet still at dangerous 
speed. Then came a thunderous shock and crash. Gray, whose feet 
were on the opposite seat, doubled up like a jack-knife, his nose and 
knees jammed together, the back seat clamped tight against that in 
front. The lieutenant shot forward out of sight, and was overheard 
fetching up with a resounding thump against the front door. There 
was a crackling of wundow-glass, a sound of stifled shrieks and 2 :roans. 
The big car recoiled some thirty or forty yards, then came to a stand- 
still, and Mr. Gray, scrambling out from the smoking-compartment, 
nearly stumbled over the prostrate officer, who was slowly finding his 
feet. But, following some half-articulate cry for help, Gray darted 
through the narrow passage-way, into the curtained aisle, now rapidly 
filling with men, much more dazed than dressed, some of them bleeding 
from contusions, all of them shaken and scared, and, slowly sliding out 
of the nearest berth, came a blue-robed, slender, senseless form, — that 
of the soft-voiced occupant who half an hour earlier had importuned 
him for water. In an instant Gray stooped, raised her in his arms, 
bore her through the passage, nearly capsizing the lieutenant the second 
time, laid her flat upon the long seat in the smoker, and aj)plied his 
fine cambric handkerchief to a gash in the left temple, from which the 
blood was oozing. 


CHAPTER IV. 

A MELANCHOLY scene of wreck and disaster was that which greeted 
the eyes of Mr. Gray when perhaps half an hour later he stepped from 
the platform and made his way forward. Through some strange 
neglect of telegraphic orders from Butte, the conductor and engineer 
of No. 12 had not been bidden to side-track at Thunder Gap, but 
had been sent spinning on their way down grade five miles to Alkali 
Flats, w^here the road crossed to the northeast and began to climb over 
the divide to Boulder Creek, and right here, at the end of a straight- 
away mile of track, the head-light of the Pacific express flashed into 
view. Each engineer sighted the glaring eye of the other’s steed at 
the same instant. Each sounded his warning cry. Each instantly re- 
versed his lever, reckless of cylinder-heads. Long had vainly sprung 
the air-brake, and No. 12’s brakemen had spun their iron wheels for 
all they were worth, but still, with the fearful momentum of their 
down-grade rush, the two trains dashed at each other like maddened 
bulls, and engineer and fireman, having done all that mortal men 
could do, jumped for their lives a second or two before the crash. The 
lighter train of the two, the express, had so far slackened speed that 
Long and his fireman, landing and rolling in the soft sand, were but 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


465 


slightly hurt. The eugineer of the freight, however, was tumbled 
heels over head, and then knocked senseless by a flying splinter. The 
fireman had only just been found as Gray reached the point where the 
two engines, locked deep in each other’s embrace, stood welded together, 
a tangled mass of metal. The whistle of one of them, dislocated by 
the shock, was emitting a low, moaning sound, as of some huge 
beast in agony. The tender of the express had telescoped half its 
length through the mail-car, and the postal clerk had been hauled from 
under a confused heap of coal and mail-sacks. The mail-car in turn 
had smashed in the front of the express, and this, forced flat against 
the front of the baggage-car, left the messenger a helpless prisoner 
within his own premises, unable to open even a side door. How the 
baggage-man escaped death he never could tell. He and his trunks 
were hurled to the front end of the car, all in a heap, yet, barring 
damages to clothing and cuticle, he was little the worse for the adven- 
ture. Then came the car-load of recruits. Hardly a man of their 
number had a whole skin left. The seats were wrenched loose, the 
windows were shattered. The smoker, too, was a sight : its few occu- 
pants had been hurled about promiscuously, and were still swearing 
when Gray got to the front. People in the day-coach were less damaged, 
but equally dazed, and in the two Pullmans consternation reigned su- 
preme. The excursionists were all sound asleep up to the instant of 
impact, and those in the upper berths had been tumbled into the aisle, 
and all the car-load violently shaken. But in the forward Pullman 
the actual damage was greater. The porter was groaning with a twisted 
back. Two of the men were badly wrenched. Lieutenant Ra’wson 
had a bump as big as a grape-shot on the side of his head. Mrs. 
Main waring, though uninjured, was so terrified as to be worse than 
helpless, and as for the fair girl with her, she had happened to be 
awake, had lifted herself on her elbow at the shriek of the whistle, 
fearful of ill, and almost instantly had been dashed against the edge 
of the seat and cruelly stunned. Of the freight train, the six cars 
immediately behind the engine were crushed to fragments, and the 
fragments hurled far and wide. It was from under a heap of these 
they lugged the fireman as Gray appeared, and this summed up the 
damage to person and material, but not to nerves, tempers, or records 
for piety. The language of Mr. Jarvis and his friend of the freight 
train beggared description. The cavalry sergeant felt an access of en- 
vious respect as he listened. Lieutenant Rawson invited both to have 
a drink, and this time it was accepted. 

It was a five-mile stretch up to the Gap, and much more than that 
back to Boulder, but news of the mishap had to be sent and help sum- 
moned. It was then that Gray’s shabby tramp had come to the fore. 
He had been warmed, fed, and rested, as he had not been for a week. 
He was used to walking, he said, and offered to carry the conductor’s 
pencilled despatch. It should have been sent by a brakeman of the 
freight, but both were lamed and badly bruised. Jarvis looked more 
than uncertain at first, but finally gave the man the important paper. 
Twenty minutes later, the two cowboys, despite bangs and bruises, de- 
clared that they too would hoof it,” and pushed ahead through the 
VoL. LIX.— 30 


466 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


pallid dawn. Gray, silent and observant, appeared just as they de- 
parted, and found the lieutenant, the two conductors, and the cavalry 
sergeant in a quadrangular council. At sight of the new-comer Jarvis 
cautioned silence, and dissolved the meeting. 

The girl whom Gray had so promptly and tenderly cared for had 
recovered consciousness within five minutes. She looked up, dazed 
and startled, into the strange face bending over her, and then almost 
instantly asked for Mrs. Mainwaring. 

^^She is unhurt,^^ said Gray, quietly. Don’t worry. You have 
quite a bruise here on the side of your head. Please lie still until I 
check the bleeding. Mrs. Mainwaring will be back in a moment.” 

Mrs. Mainwaring had been there, half distracted, wringing her 
hands and laughing and crying by turns, and was now lying in her 
berth, being ministered to by some sympathetic woman from the other 
car. Another had come to aid Gray, but, seeing how deftly he bathed 
and stanched the wound, she confined her attentions to wetting towels 
and passing them to the strange gentleman. So skilful were his min- 
istrations that the young lady presently declared herself able to sit up 
and walk, and insisted on seeing Mrs. Mainwaring. She was assisted 
to her feet, and, leaning on his arm, was taken to her friend. Gray 
left her there, slipped quietly away, and came forth, his heart beating 
with odd emotion. 

The next thing he found to do was to help straighten out the fireman 
of the freight, who was shaking like an aspen, completely demoralized 
and almost crying. He, too, had struck soft sand when he leaped 
from 'the train, but after a somersault or two had been buried under an 
avalanche of splintered board, distributed from the roofs, sides, and 
flooring of the shattered cars. The heavy trucks, wheels, and beams 
fortunately had not been hurled more than a dozen yards from the 
track, but kindling-wood in distracting quantities had been showered 
far and near. The handsome silver-topped flask, so admired of the 
sergeant at the Junction, was promptly produced, and the fireman took 
a long, long pull. Then Gray bethought him of his tramp. The 
recruits and passengers mingling in confused knot with the damaged 
men were still grouped about the wreck, some detailing personal im- 
pressions and experiences, some noisy and nervous, others silent and 
doubtless thankful for their escape, others still thinking only of the 
injured. Of these latter was Gray, at whom the conductor was scowl- 
ing suspiciously the while, and saying something in a low tone to the 
lieutenant. 

Do you know what became of that poor fellow we picked up at 
Willow Springs?” asked Gray of the brakeman, who was ruefully 
contemplating a ruined lantern. The man looked up instantly, but, in- 
stead of answering, turned and glanced significantly at the conductor. 

‘‘If you want him,” said the latter, coolly, “you’ll have to follow 
the track five miles or more. Perhaps you knew the two that went 
after him. Birds of a feather, I take it, — bound for the Gap and a 
spree on what’s left of that ten-dollar bill.” 

“ I’m very glad to hear he isn’t hurt,” said Gray. “ You’ve sent 
for help, I presume ?” 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


467 


^^IVe sent a message by that tramp friend of yours, if that\s 
what you mean. None of my crew or the freight could walk a 
mile.^^ 

All this time Lieutenant Rawson stood aloof, his forage-cap pulled 
down over his brows, intently eying the stylishly dressed man in 
tweeds. Gray became conscious of the scrutiny, and it annoyed him. 
Of the passengers in the day-coach none w^ere men whom he would 
have been at all likely to meet on equal terms in his past. Among 
those of the forward sleeper only two or three appeared to be men of 
education or social standing, and they were nursing their bruises back 
in the lavatory. The young fellows of the rear Pullman were laugh- 
ing and chatting noisily together as they rummaged about the wreck. 
The officer was the one man aboard the train whom ordinarily Gray 
would have felt inclined to address. But while the uniform and the 
assurance of at least a certain social standing on the part of its wearer 
attracted him, there was that in Rawson^s face which repelled. Nor 
was this wholly due to the fact that it lacked refinement and was a 
trifle bloated, — that the eyes were somewhat dull and clouded ; but in 
them Gray read unerringly an expression of distrust, even of hostility, 
and the pugnacious in him was aroused at once. 

All of a sudden he recalled that the porter had told him Mrs. 
Main waring was an army lady ; so, doubtless, was the young lady 
with her. Very possibly the lieutenant was their escort, and the 
escort was wrathful over his usurpation of an escort’s functions, so far 
as the damsel was concerned. Gray could not remember the officer’s 
busying himself in any way to aid Mrs. Mainwaring. True, he was 
still half stunned, and was bathing his bruises, while Gray was caring 
for the very attractive if somewhat dishevelled girl in the pale-blue 
wrapper. Something in the contemplation of his loneliness and isola- 
tion during the earlier night — a man without a home, the would-be 
sharer of the fireman’s seat, the companion of the rude soldiery, the 
aider and abettor of tramps — and the exaltation of his present, tickled 
his sense of the humorous. Had he not won the gratitude, the almost 
effusive thanks, of Mrs. Mainwaring, the eloquent, if silent, recognition 
of a very pretty girl, and now the undoubted jealousy and dislike of 
an army officer? ‘‘There’s some fun left in life, even now,” was his 
grim comment, as he calmly studied Rawson’s reddening face, gazing 
speculatively into the latter’s shifting eyes until uneasily they turned 
away. 

The gray dawn was sheeting the slopes about them, and farther to 
the west the mountain-tops loomed, dim, pallid, and white with snow. 
Fine, soft flakes were sifting down even here, and Long’s prediction 
was being verified. That faithful soldier of his country and “the 
Road” was now stretched on the flat of his back on the floor of the 
baggage-car, with some car-seats for mattress, pluckily stifling the 
moan of pain that would have forced itself through his set teeth. To 
him came the younger soldier, the sergeant, full of sympathy. 

“You’re badly shaken, Mr. Long: wouldn’t a little whiskey help 
you?” said he, the cavalry cure-all of the old days most naturally 
suggesting itself. 


468 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


I don’t know but what it would/’ groaned the engineer. ‘‘ The 
lieutenant has some, hasn’t he ?” 

Yes, he has,” was the half-hesitant reply. Then the freemasonry 
of the craft seemed to show in the look that followed, half comical, 
half confiding, but all significant. ^^But — he ain’t the sort of man 
I’d ask for anything. ’Tain’t like as if it was Captain Ray or Blake 
or Truscott or any of them was here, you know. But — I can find you 
some all right.” 

And, jumping from the car, Sergeant Kearney went straight to 
Mr. Gray. Our engineer, sir,” said he, is badly stove up. Could 
you oblige me with a little whiskey ?” 

Certainly,” said Gray, going down into his pocket and fishing up 
the silver- topped flask. ‘‘ Give him a good swig, and, sergeant, help 
yourself.” 

The sergeant grinned, thanked him, hurried back to his new friend, 
and gave him what he called an honest cavalry four fingers. 

God !” said Long, smacking his lips, his eyes snapping. That 
was an old-timer.” Then, as the potent liquor, long a stranger to his 
once casehardened system, began glowingly to assert itself, he blinked 
his gratitude and looked admiringly at the handsome flask. “ That’s 
a swell stopper you’ve got to that canteen, sergeant. Where’d you 
capture it ?” 

Tall young fellow in the first sleeper. Seems to have money and 
whiskey, cigars and good nature, till you can’t rest,” said Kearney, in 
the vernacular of the day, and was surprised at Long’s sudden interest. 
The engineer braced himself up on an elbow, all eagerness. 

Smooth face, with light moustache, regular six-footer, slim, broad- 
shouldered, travelling-cap and big ulster?” 

That’s the feller. Treated half my squad to pie and coffee back 

there at the Junction. No end of a swell, I Why, what’s amiss? 

Say, I wouldn’t take another drink just now, would you?” he broke 
off, anxiously, for Long was reaching for the flask. 

I want to see the monogram, or whatever you call it, on that 
silver stopper. D’ye know what I think of that feller? He’s first- 
cousin or twin brother to the foxiest gang of bank- and train-robbers 
in the whole country, and if we hadn’t run over or run our nose slap 
into No. 12 right here at Alkali Flats, I’m betting my bottom dollar 
we’d have found his gang waiting for us back of Thunder Gap.” 

Kearney drew back, startled. Long had seized the flask, and was 
studying the stopper with keen interest. No wonder he couldn’t 
decipher it. There was no monogram. Instead there was a queer- 
shaped shield with diagonal lines and odd little figures, like tiny 
leaves, cut on the surface, and above it was the paw of an animal 
grasping a dagger, and there was a scroll with some words in a foreign 
tongue. Long knew not what. He searched the cup of silver that 
fitted on the base, but that was smooth and polished. The red Russia 
leather covering also bore no mark. 

That don’t look like a train-robber,” said Kearney, pointing to 
the device on the top of the stopper. Ain’t that what you call a 
coat of arms, or something ?” 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


469 


Exactly ; and what’s an American doing witli a coat of arms ? 
He’s lifted it from some dook or other, touring through the West for 
buffalo and Indians. He’s a slick one, sergeant, but he can’t fool me. 
Why, he just gave himself dead away when he told me he wanted to 
ride up with me and Scut in the cab, pretending he was out here to 
enlist in the cavalry and wanted to talk with me about the officers that 
were coming there to Ransom. Yes, sir.” And Long grinned sar- 
donically, despite his pain. 

Kearney’s answer was a long whistle of amazement. 

You’d never have got me to believe it if he hadn’t made that 
break. Fancy a swell like him a-grooming horses and cleaning out 
stalls. Hush,” suddenly lowering his voice, for at the instant Mr. 
Gray came briskly into the car. 

The dawn was so far advanced that the night-lights were no longer 
needed and were burning blear and dim. The battered baggage-man, 
in no pleasant humor, because an excursionist from the rear Pullman, 
with ill-timed jocularity, had asked him how he liked the taste of his 
own medicine, was muttering profane comment on excursionists in 
general and this one in particular, as he took down the nearest lamp 
and extinguished it. Gray’s tall figure, bereft now of the ulster, was 
outlined against the brighter light at the rear door as he entered, and 
Long turned his head and stared at him curiously. For a moment, 
coming as he did from the outer air where it was now almost broad 
daylight, though the sun was not yet peeping over the eastern horizon, 
the new-comer was not quite sure whether the dark object on the floor 
was or was not the engineer, but he spoke cheerily. 

‘^Fm looking for Mr. Long,” he said. hear he’s badly 

wrenched. Ah, there you are. How are you feeling ?” 

As well as a man can who’s turned half a dozen somersaults in 
the mud. You can thank God you didn’t get aboard the cab.” 

I can indeed,” laughed Gray. I’ve never practised mounting 
and dismounting at a gallop from a locomotive, though I’ve tried it 
often enough from my horse.” 

Mr. Long winked expressively at Kearney, as though he would say, 
Now watch out for a lie,” and promptly popped the question. 

So you thought you’d join the cavalry on that account, did you ?” 

And, to the amazement of Sergeant Kearney and the incredulous 
disdain of Mr. Long, the calm reply was, That’s what I’m going to 
Butte for. I expect to be at squad drill in a day or two. Possibly 
the sergeant here will be giving me my setting up,” said he, turning 
frankly and smilingly to Kearney. 

You talk as though you knew the drill already, sir,” said the ser- 
geant, still unable to credit the statement, yet powerless against the gay, 
frank good humor of the civilian ; and it isn’t the likes of you that 
generally take a blanket.” 

Oh, I used to shoulder arms in the militia,” laughed Gray, and 
do the four exercises, but I’m green as any recruit in your party, as 
you’ll probably find out, if you’re going to Ransom.” 

Kearney looked at Long, and Long glared at Kearney. This was 
simply too brazen a fraud for the engineer’s patience. 


470 


RAY^S RECRUIT, 


‘‘ Do you mean to tell me a man who wears clothes like them and 
carries a flask like this can^t find any easier way of making a living 
said he. 

‘‘ Positive fact/^ laughed Gray, debonair as before. I^m at the 
end of my tether, or soon will be, and IVe come all the way out here 
for no other purpose.’^ 

Why didn’t you save your money and ’list in the East, where 
you came from?” asked Long, prodding Kearney with his toe to call 
attention to his astuteness. 

For the simplest of reasons. Had I enlisted there they might 
have sent me to any regiment, whereas I wanted a particular one, — 
the — th, in fact.” 

Long had lost another point, but rallied. His tone was gruff* as 
Mainwaring’s as he returned to the attack : One would suppose a 
feller — a man like you could command influence enough to get assigned 
to any regiment he wanted. That ain’t much of a trick.” 

No,” answered Gray, as he seated himself on the conductor’s big 
wooden chest and carelessly swung his slender foot; ^^no, I don’t be- 
lieve I’ve got either friends or influence, or anything in the wide world, 
but — what I’ve got on and what’s in an old trunk somewhere along 
the road here.” 

Didn’t you say something about quitting railroading to take up 
soldiering?” queried Long, so astonished that he was forgetting his 
pain. 

I did. Two years ago I did some railroading at the general 
manager’s end of the line. So you see how little I must have known 
about it. Yes,” he went on, with twinkling eyes, ‘‘ I used to ride my 
own horse, but I’ve lost him, so it’s got to be one of Uncle Sam’s.” 

For a moment nothing further was said. A pair of frank blue 
eyes were gazing smilingly down into the engineer’s face, and that ex- 
trooper could find no excuse for another expression of doubt. Slowly 
he held forth the half-emptied flask. 

Here,” said he, take this. I’m damned if you’re not too many 
for me. But,” a sudden thought striking him, why don’t you sell 
this and your watch and them clothes and go to the mines and make a 
stake there?” 

Because I’d rather soldier, man,” was the smiling answer, — Gray’s 
good humor was indomitable, — ^^and down in the bottom of your 
heart you know perfectly well you never see the uniform,” and here he 
laid a hand on Kearney’s shoulder, that you don’t more than half 
wish you were in it again and riding the trail or the prairie rather than the 
iron track. I don’t have to sell anything yet,” he added, with almost 
a laugh. Keep the whiskey, Mr. Long. You’ve more need of it 
than I have. I’ll see you again after a while.” And with that he 
rose, and, nodding smilingly to Kearney, sauntered from the car. 

Well, if that’s a train-robber,” said the latter, as he reached and 
took the flask from Long’s unresisting hand, here’s” — the top came 
off* and the flask was lifted to his lips — here’s long life to him.” 

Late that morning the relief train cam^e down from Pawnee, the 
East-bound express at its heels. Passengers and baggage were labo- 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


471 


riously transferred from one train to the other around the scene of the 
wreck. Mr. Long, bidding mournful adieu to No. 783, asked Sergeant 
Kearney to see that the now empty flask was returned to the tall feller 
that talked of enlisting. He may talk till hell freezes over,^’ said 
Long, but not till I see him in uniform will I believe he isn^t lying, 
and even then 1^11 misdoubt him for a reformed train-robber or an 
escaped lunatic.’^ 

But of this and other unflattering comments Mr. Gray was uncon- 
scious. By eight o’clock some railway-men arrived from the Gap on 
a hand-car, proving that the suspected tramp had at least delivered his 
despatches. People were getting hungry by that time, and it presently 
transpired that the tall gent” in the first sleeper was going back with 
the hand-car to see what he could buy and send to them, as it would be 
noon perhaps before the wrecking-train, etc., could come. Then the 
porter addressed Mr. Gray with a message. Mrs. Mainwaring begged 
to see the gentleman before he started. 

She was calm and collected now, and evidently ashamed of the 
trouble she had given. The young lady was seated by an open window, 
languidly drinking in the fresh air, a silken handkerchief bound about 
her head. 

We are so very much indebted to you,” said the matron, rising at 
the entrance of the young man, and both my niece. Miss Leroy, and I 
wished to thank you before we parted. I am Mrs. Mainwaring, and 
my husband. Major Mainwaring, whom I expect to meet to-day, will 
be glad to add his thanks to mine, if you will kindly give me your 
address.” 

I assure you the thanks are unnecessary. I am only too happy 
to have been of the faintest service. I am awfully clumsy, I fear,” 
said Gray, smiling, as his eyes wandered to Miss Leroy’s face. She 
was leaning forward now and extending the pretty white hand he had 
so admired much earlier that morning. 

And I want to say, yet I don’t know how to say, how very much 

I thank you,” she murmured, her words falling hesitatingly, ^‘and 

Pray, do not think me impertinent, but did I not see you — were you 
not on the Ehine last May?” 

His whole manner seemed to change instantly. Quiet good humor 
and courtesy gave place to embarrassment, even awkwardness. 

^^It was — possibly a brother of mine,” he faltered. I — I hope 

you’ll have a very pleasant journey. Such ill luck thus far, you 

know ” He barely touched the extended hand. Good-by. 

Good-by, Mrs, Mainwaring. They — they’re waiting for me with that 
hand-car.” And in an instant he was hastening away. 

‘‘ But you haven’t told us your name or your address,” persisted 
the elder lady. 

Oh, it’s of no consequence. — You remember Mr. Toots, don’t 
you?” he called back over his shoulder, as he made his escape from the 
car. But on the platform without the flitting smile vanished, and his 
face grew gray and sad, as he stopped and took a long, long breath. 

‘‘ Lesson number one, and a tough one, Darcy, my boy,” he panted. 

My God, what is my name to be now ?” 


472 


RAY’S RECRUIT. 


CHAPTER V. 

The — th had been having what Captain Ray called a poky’^ 
time most of that year, and when Ray^s usually sunny nature clouded 
over something was sure to be amiss with the professional side of the 
man. His domestic side was perennial joy. The regiment had known 
many a hard winter, many a fierce summer, many a sharp campaign 
and savage battle. Its long exile in Arizona in the old days was full 
of peril and suffering. Its sometimes desperate encounters with the 
red warriors of the northern plains and mountains had made sad in- 
roads on its membership. Its records of casualties embraced every 
conceivable catastrophe : death by sunstroke, starvation, freezing, light- 
ning, flood, fire, rattlesnakes, explosions, thirst, arrow and tomahawk, 
shot, sabre, and shell. A peaceful year it never knew from the day 
of its first muster on the plains of Texas until a quarter-century after, 
when, mirahile dictUy there hadn’t even been a horse-thief to follow or 
an Indian to chase until, late in the summer, it occurred to a band 
of Cheyennes to ride northward and call on some kindred up in the 
Powder River country, and these children of nature never thought of 
asking anybody’s leave. The — th had been having, as Ray said, so 
poky a time at Russell — just drilling, drilling, drilling on that wide sweep 
of upland prairie, instead of scouting and fighting through the mountains, 
their normal summer recreation — that the regiment shouted for very 
joy when it heard that Sharp-Knife, the young Hotspur that headed 
the raid, had soundly thrashed the first detachment sent to head him 
off, and, indignant at the discourtesy of the Great Father in essaying 
to curb his inclination to roam, was helping himself to all the horned 
cattle, horses, and household goods that lay in his way, not to mention 
a few of the households, and was careering onward bound for a big 
time in the Big Horn Mountains, bragging to the Northern Cheyennes 
of the fun he had had. 

Then away went Colonel Atherton, with Stannard and Mainwaring, 
the old and the new majors, and eight husky” troops, full tilt for the 
Hills, only to find when they reached the broad valley of the Ska that 
Sharp-Knife and his shifty followers had crossed forty-eight hours 
ahead and were circling westward across the Little Missouri by that 
time. Never is a stern chase so long a chase as when the Indian has 
the lead. The department commander followed by rail, stage-coach, 
and buckboard, and half the troops in the Territories of Dakota, 
Montana, and Wyoming were centring on the Cheyennes, when Sharp- 
Knife cut loose from all semblance of a base and took to the woods in 
earnest. His people scattered to the four winds. Some hid among 
the northern bands of the same tribe, some slipped in among the Sioux 
at the great reservations in Dakota, others scattered far and wide, 
broke up into little squads of three or four and even less, and jogged 
back by circuitous routes to the southern plains and swore they’d only 
been hunting along the Arkansas. There’s only one creature that can 
beat an Indian, — murder one minute and look the image of piety the 
next, — and that’s a cat. It was a poky summer,” said Ray, at Rus- 
sell. It was poor kind of campaigning, said that same authority, but 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


473 


better than none. It was the move that followed that stirred the 
social fabric of the — th to its foundations. The regiment had been 
stationed for some years at Russell, a big post on the Union Pacific, 
but the department commander decided that he wanted Atherton and 
his seasoned campaigners closer to the malcontents, and, to the un- 
speakable — not speechless — indignation of nine-tenths of the ladies in 
the — th and the financial, though unconfessed, comfort of many of 
their lords, the order was issued that it should not return to Russell, 
but direct its retrograde march on the older, smaller, but just now 
rather more important post of Fort Ransom. 

Squeeze into quarters as best you can,’^ said the general, cheer- 
fully, ^‘and you won’t mind crowding this winter. We’ll fit you out 
better in the spring.” 

Now, the winter was the time they most objected to being crowded, 
for then they had their friends from the East and their social pleasures, 
did these dames and damsels of the army, while in summer the troops 
were almost always afield, and the women, those who could atford it, 
went East- Few had done so this year, because the regiment was not 
sent out for summer camp, and when the Sharp-Knife chase was 
ordered it was too late in the season. 

So the two battalions, then so called, marched in to Ransom. 
Then, so many at a time, the officers were allowed to go to Russell to 
supervise the packing and shipment of their household goods, while 
the quartermaster and other sergeants did as much for the companies. 
Mrs. Atherton, with her lares and penates, was there at Butte to 
welcome the regiment when it arrived. Mrs. Main waring, with her 
fair niece. Miss Leroy, was to have been there, but, as we have seen, 
became involved in a collision in the mountain division. The major 
hurried eastward to meet his helpmate at Pawnee, and there got full 
details of the crash, and sought among the passengers for the young 
man in the ulster and travelling-cap who had been so helpful in time 
of need, but he had disappeared, said the conductor who took Mr. 
Jarvis’s load. The last seen of him he was taking dinner at Ford’s 
restaurant with a couple of cowboys and a dilapidated party who had 
been fellow-passengers with him on No. 3 at the time of the wreck. 
Then the cowboys had gone one way and the young man another. 
Sergeant Kearney, who under Lieutenant Rawson was in charge of 
the recruits, said, begging the new major’s pardon, that the conductor 
and engineer of No. 3 were sure there was something queer about that 
party. It was believed they were all connected with a gang of train- 
robbers. Whereat the major scoffed until Rawson came up and cor- 
roborated what Kearney had said, and was presented by the major to 
his wife and Miss Leroy, who were not over-cordial. Women learn 
so much more about their fellow-passengers in the course of a few 
hours than do men. Then the major, in his happy way, went on to 
chaff the wife of his bosom upon her having nearly captured a train- 
robber, and then Miss Leroy spoke her mind. She didn’t believe a 
word of it. 

At Butte, where they arrived late at night, while the major was 
bustling about after the ambulance and baggage -wagons, Mrs. Main- 


474 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


waring, sitting at an open window and gazing out at the flitting lights 
on the platform and awaiting the summons to leave the car, was sud- 
denly attracted by the sight of a little detachment of recruits marching 
by. The young lady, too, was at a near window, and the sergeant, 
catching a glimpse of her face, remembered the conversation he had 
heard at Pawnee and her prompt defence of the absent, and he had 
felt ill at ease and shame-stricken ever since. What right had he to 
brand a man as a criminal on the mere suspicion of some railway em- 
ployees? The young lady’s spirited stand in defence of the defamed 
had astonished the major and delighted Kearney. A sudden thought 
struck the honest trooper, as he was marching by, and, springing 
quickly to the side of the car, he held up to the window the handsome 
silver-topped flask. ‘‘ I beg pardon,” said he, but this belongs to 
that young gentleman. I was to have given it to him, but I’ve got to 
return to St. Louis to the recruiting depot, and he’s stopped back there 
about Pawnee. He never came on this train at all, but he declared he 
was coming up to Fort Ransom later. Would you please give it to 
him, miss?” 

And, before she knew what to say, the sergeant was gone, and there 
she sat with the stranger’s flask in her gloved hand, — the stranger 
whom she could have sworn she saw at Bonn and Cologne not four 
months before, — who thought it might have been his brother, who 
wouldn’t give his name, but who had forgotten the handkerchief with 
which he had stanched the flow of blood from her temple, — an unsightly 
relic at the moment, to be sure, but safely stowed in her little satchel 
for all that, and already searched, and not vainly, for a trace of owner- 
ship. Bathed in her own blood were the letters D. H. G. 

And what on earth she was to do with that handsome flask and 
that once more presentable handkerchief was a problem that confronted 
Miss Leroy two weeks later, after she had begun to feel reasonably at 
home at Ransom. It was the queerest phase of life that ever she had 
encountered. City-bred, convent-educated, she found frontier ways at 
an army post as full of novelty and sensation as her first explorations 
in foreign parts. For two or three days they had lived at the hotel in 
Butte until the major reported the carpets down and the stoves up. 
The next two or three were devoted to unpacking furniture, pictures, 
glass, and crockery, and putting everything where it belonged and 
much where it didn’t. It seemed to make little difference, for in all 
these functions, at all hours of the day, and not a few of the night, 
the young officers, in shirt-sleeves and the best of spirits, bore willing 
part. Such gay good humor, such utter lack of stiffness and con- 
ventionality, she had never seen. All drills and duties, it seemed, 
except the necessary guard, police, and stables, were suspended until 
officers and men were comfortably housed and settled down. The 
bachelor lieutenants pitched tents on the parade and placidly awaited 
their turn to choose quarters, a ceremony which impressed Miss Leroy 
as something incomprehensible. It was not easy to make her realize 
just why Captain Ray couldn’t move Mrs. Ray and the baby boys 
np from the hotel until Captain Freeman had chosen, and why Mrs. 
Blake should remain at Cheyenne near her own old home until the 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


475 


Truscotts and Eays had settled on what houses they would take. 
(They wanted the big double brick next but one to the coloneFs, but 
were afraid to move in, lest the new surgeon ordered out from Omaha 
should take a fancy to that very set.) It was all plain sailing, as 
she could see, for the colonel, the two majors, and the two senior 
captains, but then came the tug of war. The Greggs had moved 
into No. 5, confident the doctor would prefer the other side of the 
garrison, the very house the Truscotts and Eays thought to occupy 
together, but the doctor came, saw, and concluded that the house he 
and Mrs. Doctor wanted was No. 5 and no other, whereat Mrs. Gregg 
was furious, and the captain philosophic. I told you so, MViar,^^ he 
was unfeeling enough to say a dozen times a day, until she flew to the 
Stannards for sympathy. It seemed to Miss Leroy that whether these 
families got settled or not the feuds never would be ; and yet in less 
than ten days even the young married couples were snugly stowed 
away. Smiles and sunshine met her on every side. The men, who 
looked like hairy monsters at first, had shaved their beards and donned 
their neatly fitting uniforms. The band played every afternoon. 
Parades were fine, guard-mounting lovely.^^ The little dinners and 
suppers and dances were just as jolly, friendly, and delightful as could 
possibly be. Many of the young matrons were charming companions. 
Several of the young officers danced divinely, all of them rode well, 
and none of them thought anything of coming banging at the hall 
door at any hour of the day to ask Mrs. Main waring to come and do 
this or Miss Leroy to come and see that. The ladies ran in and out 
from house to house as though it were one big family, and before the 
10th of November came Miss Leroy found herself completely carried 
away by the life and swing and movement that seemed to characterize 
everything that went on in the old regiment. She was on the 
pleasantest of terms with Mesdames Eay, Truscott, and Blake. She 
found her aunt tireless as a hostess. She admired the colonel and his 
accomplished wife. She took’^ to Mrs. Stannard from the start, and 
wondered why Mrs. Main waring didn^t enthuse over her as everybody 
else did. She liked bluff old Stannard and most of the officers 
thoroughly, and so, blithe, busy, on the go,^^ as they said, from morn 
till late at night, she had well-nigh ceased to think of the shock she 
had sustained on the night of the collision or to speculate about the 
tall young gentleman wdio had restored her to consciousness and to 
whom she had not restored the handkerchief and flask, when the 10th 
of November came, and with it her birthday, a new sensation, and an 
excitement at the fort. 

The recruits brought to Eansom by Lieutenant Eawson were for 
distribution to those troops of the regiment most in need of new blood, 
and, as luck would have it, these were all of the battalion at Fort 
Fred Winthrop, an outlying post close to the now crowded reserva- 
tion of the Sioux. Thither had Atherton ordered Eawson without 
delay of a day, partly because recruits were needed, but mainly because 
the lieutenant showed symptoms of an oncoming attack of a bibulous 
character, and Atherton would have none of that in his garrison. 
Eawson was ordered northward forthwith, and marched with his 


476 


RAr\S RECRUIT. 


Johnny Raws at dawn next day, and, except for the voice of one 
crying in the wilderness that the party had looted the groggery of 
Laramie Pete at the Dry Fork of the Ska, nothing more was heard 
of them till they joined at Winthrop, none the worse for their wintry 
march. Ray had looked over the array and decided that he could 
afford to wait and pick for himself. Sergeant Kearney had gone back 
to the recruiting depot. The regimental adjutant had been designated 
as recruiting officer at the station, and had disdainfully rejected, one 
after another, half a dozen seedy-looking tramps, when one day, per- 
haps the fifth after their arrival at the post, the sergeant-major put his 
handsome head into the office, followed it in, carefully shut the door 
behind him, stood scrupulously at attention, and hemmed behind his 
hand to attract his superior's notice. 

Mr. Dana looked up from the tangled mass of figures at the foot 
of his regimental return, laid down his pen, and said, ‘‘ Well 

Will the adjutant see a man that wants to enlist 

^^Not if he’s like the lot that have been here so far.” 

He isn’t, sir, but I don’t know about him.” 

What’s the matter? I haven’t time to waste if he isn’t good 
enough to suit us.” And Dana glanced out along the wooden porch 
as though in search of the would-be trooper. 

He’s good enough, I don’t doubt, sir,” said the sergeant-major, a 
half-smile breaking about the corners of his mouth, as far as looks 
go; but I never knew fellows like this one to enlist that didn’t have 
something wrong with ’em, and he says he wants to take on with Cap- 
tain Ray.” 

He’ll take on where we see fit to put him,” said Dana, with the 
dogmatism of the service. Let’s see the gentleman who wants to 
dictate where he’ll go.” 

So the sergeant-major opened the door, jerked his head backward 
in encouragement to the invisible party in the outer office, and said, 
Come in.” 

There stepped quickly into the room a young man about six feet 
tall, erect and athletic in build and carriage, with a fine, clear-cut, 
frank face, crowned with a crop of curly, close-cut, light brown hair, 
with very deep blue eyes, large and clear, under heavy brows, and 
thick, long, curling lashes, a curly blond moustache sweeping out at 
the ends and barely hiding the curve of his handsomely chiselled lips, 
chin and jaws cleanly shaved, throat powerful, open and bare, for the 
rolling collar of a brand-new blue flannel shirt was confined only by a 
loosely knotted tie of silk. The coat he wore was a sort of double- 
breasted pea-jacket of dark blue beaver, now thrown open in deference 
to the warmth of the room, but the first significant, if not suspicious, 
thing the young man did as he entered was to begin buttoning it 
throughout. Snugly fitting trousers of dark blue, belted at the waist, 
stout, slender, well-made shoes, and a soft black crush hat, completed 
his attire. As Dana looked at him in some surprise, the new-comer 
brought his heels together, and between him and the foremost non- 
commissioned officer in the — th the expert eye could hardly have told 
which was the more soldierly in build and carriage. 


RAV^S RECRUIT. 477 

For a moment no one spoke. It was Dana who finally broke 
silence. 

Why youVe served before.’’ 

Only in a militia regiment, sir.” 

Where?” 

In New York City.” 

The adjutant had a dozen more questions on the tip of his tongue, 
and the visitor saw it, 

I have answered that, sir, because I presume I liave to account 
for standing attention, but there are many questions that may occur to 
you that I do not wish to answer. If I may speak with Captain Ray 
I think I can satisfy him without going into particulars.” 

Dana whipped his wooden chair around and squarely confronted 
the speaker. That he was a man of education and social position in 
the past, at least, Dana saw at a glance, and just as quickly did the 
companion thought flash across his mind, “ Another case of the prodi- 
gal son.” Incredulity as to the motives of a man in enlisting in those 
days was not confined to the rank and file. 

Captain Ray may or may not be satisfied, but in either event, as 
recruiting officer of the regiment, I have to be,” said the young officer, 
with a touch of asperity in his tone. It was not good to his ears to 
be told that a would-be recruit declined to answer questions. 

The new-comer, far from looking disconcerted, smiled affably and 
frankly. His blue eyes twinkled, his white teeth gleamed. “ The 
best-looking scapegrace that ever came to us. Confound his impudence 
for grinning,” said Dana to himself. 

That is why I wish to speak with Captain Ray, sir,” said the 
civilian. ‘‘ He might be able to satisfy you when I, probably, could 
not.” 

I don’t know how you make that out,” said Dana, curiosity be- 
traying him into a half-argument with the applicant, which Dana very 
well knew was infra dig. 

‘‘ Possibly Captain Ray will explain it,” was the answer, and the 
serenity of the applicant remained unruffled. 

Oh, very well,” said Dana, nettled in spite of his better nature. 

Go see Captain Ray if you wish.” 

But even as he spoke the hall door opened and in burst Major 
Mainwaring. There is no other way of describing the major’s method 
of entering a room. It has been said that he was blunt both in speech 
and in action. A soldier for years of his life, no amount of domestic 
polish had ever succeeded in smoothing off the rough edges of the 
camp. Mainwaring prided himself on being direct in everything he 
said and did. Men and women who knew him well knew there was a 
mine of genuine kindness and goodness under the rugged surface. 
Men and women who heard him speak for the first time declared him 
a brute. 

What you got here?” blurted Mainwaring, glaring at the sergeant- 
major and his silent companion. 

Man wants to enlist, sir,” was the reply. 

Now, Mainwaring was not the recruiting officer of the regiment. 


478 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


He was in no wise responsible for their selection. He had been but a 
few months a member of the regiment himself, having, as has been 
explained, been promoted to it from another when Major Barry became 
lieutenant-colonel; but it was a peculiarity of Mainwaring’s that he 
considered it his inalienable right to have a say in everything going 
on, and it wasn^t so much what he said as how he said it that made it 
obnoxious. He scowled at the very presentable new-comer as though 
words were inadequate to express his disapprobation, then gruffly 
demanded, — 

Where you from 

A flush went up to the forehead of the young man, and there was 
an instants hesitation; then in a very quiet tone he replied, The 
East.^^ 

Major Mainwaring was studying him sharply, a suspicious light in 
his black eyes. HavenT I seen you before ?’Mie presently asked, 
the words tumbling all over one another’s heels. 

Not out here, certainly,” was the tempered reply, though the blue 
eyes were firing up and looking squarely into the kindling black. 

^^Do you mean to tell me you haven’t been in service before?” 
The major’s precipitate style of questioning left barely time for answer. 

But the civilian took his time and chose his words. ‘^1 do not 
mean to tell you — anything, sir.” 

For a moment Mainwaring simply glared as though he could not 
realize the full significance of the words. 

What in thunder do you mean by that?” he finally growled. 

Just what I have said, sir,” was the reply. ^^Five minutes ago 
I wished to enlist in this regiment ; now I don’t. Good-day to you, 
gentlemen.” And, to the speechless amaze of the sergeant-major, the 
suppressed delight of Dana, and the profane astonishment of Main- 
waring, he calmly walked past the two officers, replacing his hat as he 
did so, stalked deliberately into the hall-way and out of the front 
door. 

^^Well, of all the chip-on-the-shoulder specimens I ever saw,” 
loudly laughed Mainwaring, that fellow beats the lot. What do you 
s’pose fired him off so? I hadn’t begun to say anything to him. 
The man’s a dash-dashed double-dashed liar, and 1 know it. I’ve seen 
him somewhere before, and he knows it, and he’s afraid to show up 
again, and took the first excuse to get off. That man’s a dash-dashed 
deserter, or a horse-thief, or something. He knows me, and didn’t 
know of my promotion to this regiment or my being here. You are 
well rid of him, Dana. He’ll never show up at Ransom again.” 

But he did, for just two days later Captain Ray came cheerily into 
the office with enlistment papers in his hand. Dana, old boy, I’ve 
got a tip-top man to be sworn in. — This way, jJease, Hunter.” And 
there at the door-way stood the applicant of tw^o days before. 

Dana glanced over the papers. Arthur Hunter, born New York, 
by occupation a clerk, do hereby acknowledge to have voluntarily en- 
listed this sixth day of November, 188-, as a soldier in the army of 
the United States, etc., etc., and do solemnly swear that I am twenty- 
five years and seven months of age, etc., etc., and I, Arthur Hunter, 


RA Y ’S RECR UIT. 479 

do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the 
United States of America, etc., etc/^ 

Then Dana looked up at the dark eyes and curling black moustache 
and animated face of one of the crack captains in the regiment, and 
from him to the silent, blue-eyed, and, as before, thoroughly present- 
able stranger, and there was embarrassment in the adjutant’s face. For 
a moment he hesitated, then turned to the would-be recruit. 

‘‘ Will you step outside a moment? I have to speak with Captain 
Ray.” 

He was instantly obeyed. 

‘‘1 beg your pardon, captain,” said Dana, ‘^but I have to ask a 
question or two. Major Mainwaring is sure he has seen this man 
before, and that he is a deserter or something disreputable despite his 
good looks. He refused to answer for himself two days ago.” 

Yes, I know,” answered Ray, smilingly. We all know how 
suave and encouraging the major is apt to be to strangers. It’s a won- 
der some wild Westerner hasn’t put a bullet through him. I’ve heard 
all about that interview.” 

^^And — you’re willing to take chances? You’re satisfied this 
man’s all right?” 

All right as men go, Dana. We can’t expect all the ^ vartues and 
timperance besides for thirteen dollars a month,’ as Mulligan said in the 
Mexican war. But this applicant satisfies me that he means to serve, 
that he loves a horse, and can ride like a Kentuckian. I’ll bet he can 
fight, and it’s none of our business who he is, where he hails from, or 
why he enlisted, so long as he does his duty. Now I’m willing to 
take him.” 

And that settled it. Recruit Arthur Hunter was formally accepted 
as a member of the sorrel troop, took his first lesson with the curry- 
comb and brush without a word, and, without turning a hair,” his 
initiation on Buckler, the meanest brute in the stable, and rode him 
barebacked to water despite furious plunges and wild howls of delight 
from threescore trooper throats. Furthermore, Hunter accepted bar- 
rack fare without remark and barrack chaflF without remonstrance, and 
when forty-eight hours elapsed and his captain asked him how he 
liked it, the new trooper clicked his heels together and said, Better 
than I hoped to, sir,” and then surprised that officer by a request to be 
allowed to be absent until next day. Etiquette required that such 
favors should be asked through the first sergeant in writing. The 
colonel’s consent had also to be given, but Hunter produced in ex- 
planation a telegram received but half an hour before stables. That 
despatch was addressed properly to Trooper A. Hunter, Fort Ransom, 
and said, ^^Must move to-night. Will bring your things on No. 3,” 
and it came from Pawnee. 

Captain Ray looked it over in some uncertainty. What things 
are these?” he asked. 

A trunk, sir, and some other property, principally clothing.” 

Colonel Atherton did not look over-pleased at the application of 
Captain Ray for permission for a new recruit to be absent over-night, 
but Ray was a favorite. Sergeant Merri weather was going to Butte on 


480 


RAY'S RECRUIT, 


pass after supper; Recruit Hunter could go with him in the post- 
trader^s wagon. Ray felt sure of his man, and the colonel consented. 

And so it happened that Merriweather’s pretty wife, the invalid of a 
fortnight agone, was surprised by the sight of a tall, very fine-looking 
young man, in a new fatigue suit not yet altered to fit him, who 
appeared at the door-way of her little abode shortly after gun-fire and 
asked for the sergeant. 

He^ll be here directly. Surely this must be Mr. Hunter,’^ said 
she, dusting a chair and looking up at him from under her long lashes. 

You^ll come in and wait, won’t you?” she added, invitingly. But 
Hunter thanked her briefly and said he’d go to the store, which he did, 
with her bright eyes following him in lively curiosity. 

It was midnight when Sergeant Merriweather, driving in, reported 
his return at the guard-house and found the officer of the day and 
half the guard searching busily about the premises in hopes of dis- 
covering by what means two general prisoners had sawed their way out 
of their iron-barred room. The rest of the guard were in pursuit. It 
was a night of excitement and disgust for most of them, and they were 
all wide awake and eager for news when, at the break of day, there 
came galloping out from Butte the local agent of the Transcontinental, 
with a startling story. Train No. 3, The Owl,” the Pacific express, 
had been held up by robbers about an hour earlier, just east of Ska 
Bridge. Jimmy Long, engineer of 783, was badly shot. His fireman 
was killed. The robbers, nearly a dozen in number, had terrorized 
the train-hands, got everything there was in the safe, in the mail-car, 
and among the passengers in the day-coach and sleeper, and had then 
ridden off northwestward across the Ska. They were heading for the 
Dry Fork. The sheriff was trying to raise a posse in town, but it was 
slow work. For God’s sake, couldn’t the cavalry go in pursuit ? 


CHAPTER VI. 

A Territorial governor is notan awe-inspiring official ordinarily, 
but the governor of Wyoming, relieved of his valuables at the point 
of the pistol, was not slow in seeking redress. From Butte he wired 
full particulars of the robbery to the department commander, who was 
at Pawnee, just back from an inspection of the Sioux agencies, fifty 
miles to the north. The general was waiting for the East-bound train 
at the d4p6t hotel, was aroused in an instant, and lost no time in wiring 
authority to Colonel Atherton to use any means in his power to head 
off and capture the robbers, without waiting for civil process. The 
news of the hold-up” with its attendant casualties went buzzing 
over the post at reveille, and barely had the story reached Atherton as 
he stood under the flag-staff, receiving the reports of the troop com- 
manders, when out came the telegraph operator, racing, and the colonel 
read the hurriedly penned lines and turned to Ray. Somehow or 
other, whenever any swift, hard riding had to be done, Ray and Ray’s 
troop were the first fellows thought of. 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 481 

Let your men finish breakfast/^ said the colonel, then — do your 
best/^ And he handed the dark-eyed Kentuckian the despatch. 

In an hour from that time, Mrs. Ray, holding her baby boy in her 
arms, was gazing from the north window of her army home at some 
black specks on the far horizon, and little Sandy, tugging at the skirts 
of her pretty morning wrapper, was coaxing for mother to hold him 
up too. The sorrel troop were up and away, heading for Wheelan 
Springs, on the Laramie trail, and bets were even between Stannard 
and Mainwaring that Ray would nab the outfit before sundown.^^ 

But who could that “outfit^^ be? Jim Long said all were masked 
and he recognized none. Scut, his fireman, died without a sign. Parks, 
the expressman declared every form unfamiliar. Jarvis, the conductor, 
and Ryan, a brakeman, alone could furnish anything like a clue. Two 
of the desperadoes were dressed like two cowboys they had had aboard 
the night of the collision, a fortnight back, and the leader, who was 
tall, slender, well dressed, with the voice and intonation of a man of 
education and social position, closely resembled in build a passenger 
who boarded the sleeper that night at the Junction and left it after the 
accident and went to Pawnee. The division superintendent wired to 
Omaha such particulars as he could give. The legal representative 
and certain detectives of the road were ordered to leave for the scene 
by first train. The sheriff at Butte had a good-sized posse in readiness 
by breakfast-time, and then started valiantly on the trail of Ray^s 
troop, passing through Fort Ransom about the time that Mr. Dana 
was mounting guard. Other sheriff's officials went out to Minden 
with the division superintendent, and others still pushed on to Pawnee, 
up on the broad plateau, to inquire for two cowboys, a tramp, and a 
swell, all of whom had appeared there in company, just after the 
smash-up at Alkali Flats, none of whom were there now, but one of 
whom, the tramp, so called, looking so entirely a different man — with 
trimmed hair and beard and good clothes — as to have been unrecog- 
nizable had he not rashly given himself away to everybody by bragging 
about his exploits the night of the smash-up, — that tramp had boarded 
No. 3 at three thirty a.m. at Pawnee, with a ticket for Sweetwater, 
but, so it transpired, had checked his trunk only as far as Butte. All 
this by rapid telegraphing to and fro was developed before the posse 
started on its way, but not until after the despoiled train had changed 
engines at Butte, and then, according to the inexorable rules of the 
railway, had gone on again. Jarvis remembered that a very decent, 
quiet fellow boarded the forward passenger coach at Pawnee with a 
ticket for Sweetwater, but he did not connect him with the tramp so 
lavishly provided for by the ‘^swelP the night of the collision. But, 
now they spoke of it, they were about the same size and build, and 
what made it significant, that fellow seemed to have disappeared when 
the robbers jumped aboard and went through the passengers, nor did 
he appear again until just as the train pulled out for Butte, after the 
robbers were gone. Wiring west after the rushing train speedily 
brought this answer : No party with ticket from Pawnee to Sweet- 
water aboard.’^ And as he had been seen, and talked with, and listened 
to, up to the moment of the arrival of No. 3 at Butte, Jarvis declared 

VoL. LTX ^31 


482 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


the man must be somewhere about the town at this moment, and Butte’s 
few policemen were put in search. 

All they discovered by noon was that such a party had been seen 
talking excitedly with a tall stranger in heavy overcoat and cap near 
the baggage-room just after the train came in. The baggage-man said 
that the man who presented check for the trunk from Pawnee was tall, 
slender, and dressed in rough, heavy coat and travelling-cap. The 
trunk was sole-leather. It had a lot of foreign stamps, hotel posters, 
and railway-luggage slips all over it, but the baggage-master had no 
time to examine it. Two men had carried the trunk away between 
them, declining the offers of the baggage-man. Somebody remembered 
such a trunk being wheeled in a barrow up Hoyt Street just after 
No. 3 came in, two men with it, a tall and a short, and that was all. 

Recruit Hunter’s pass was up at noon, and at eleven thirty he 
jumped from a light wagon at the south gate, and was hailed by the 
corporal of the guard as he was striding briskly towards his troop 
quarters : 

Say, young feller, come back here.” 

The tall recruit halted, turned and looked around, irresolute. It 
might be authoritative, it might be mere practical joke ; at all events 
the corporal was responsible, and the soldier walked straight to where 
the non-commissioned officer was seated on a bench, near the hall door 
of the guard-house. 

Where you been ?” 

To town on pass,” was the calm answer. 

What did you hear about that hold-up?” 

Nothing of consequence.” 

Well, your troop’s gone thief-catching, and you’re to report to 
Sergeant Merri weather as soon as you come in. Now you’ve come in, 
you haven’t any cigars or drinkables about you, have you ? This is 
the custom-house if you have.” 

Hunter looked neither annoyed nor disconcerted. Taking two or 
three cigars from his overcoat-pocket, he said, Catch,” tossed them 
carelessly to the vigilant wearer of the chevrons, hastened to barracks, 
deposited his bundles on the bed assigned him, and looked up and down 
the now silent and almost deserted building in search of some one to 
tell him what had taken place. Two men, one laid up from the kick 
of a horse, the other with an arm in a sling, came down to investigate 
the contents of his bundles, but were disarmed of hostile intent by his 
easy good nature and prompt offer of cigars. Whiskey he had none. 
Asking for Merriweather, he was told to look for him at his quarters. 

Catch him out of watching distance of the little w^oman,” said 
one of them, with a grin. “ Mind your eye. Hunter ; she’ll be making 
up to you next,” said the other, and we don’t want you to be found 
with your head in the horse-pond, like Pat Shea and then it trans- 
pired that Trooper Shea had been a devoted admirer of pretty Mrs. 
Merriweather while she was still housemaid at the Freemans’, and that 
Pat’s devotions were equally divided between her and Muldoon’s saloon 
until one winter’s morning he was dragged by the legs from his icy 
winding-sheet with a dreadful gash in his throat and the neck of a 


RAY\S RECRUIT. 


483 


bottle still grasped in his frozen hand. Hunter obeyed his orders and 
went, and Mrs. Merriweather saw him coming, and ran to her glass 
before she answered the sharp knock at the door. 

Why, it^s Mr. Hunter,^’ she said. Sure I knew the step before 
I saw you. Come in, Mr. Hunter. The sergeant^s gone to the com- 
missary, and I expect him back every minute.^^ 

But the trooper’s blue eyes glanced only indifferently into the 
coquettish and smiling face. 

‘‘ I was directed here,” he said, to report to Sergeant Merriweather, 
but I’ll go on down to the stables and stop on my return. Thank you, 
no,” he continued, with cold courtesy, as she again urged that he 
should enter, and strode away stablewards with more than one pair of 
eyes from the laundresses’ quarters gazing after him, — those of Mrs. 
Merriweather being clouded and perplexed. 

It had been a perfect morning, keen and frosty at guard- mount, 
but warmer as the sun wheeled high towards the zenith, and Atherton 
had had the regiment out for drill. The broad prairie northeast of 
the post was alive with prancing, high-mettled steeds, with dashing 
riders, and not a few carriages and Concord wagons, filled with ladies 
of tlie post, all rejoicing at having the regiment once more at home. 
For nearly two hours Atherton had had the seven troops in rapid 
movement here and there and everywhere over the plain, and now, the 
drill over, troop after troop came marching sedately and quietly home- 
ward to cool and calm the horses before reaching stables. In full 
ranks, fifty men at least to each company, in their trim-fitting fatigue 
dress, and with the silken swallow-tail waving at the head of each 
little column, they looked wonderfully business-like and serviceable. 
The easy, practised seat of every man, the nonchalant grace of every 
pose, the resolute, dust-covered, sometimes devil-may-care faces, all 
seemed thoroughly in keeping with the scene and surroundings, thor- 
oughly in accord with the buoyant action of the mettlesome mounts. 
Accustomed from boyhood to the best of horse-flesh, a born rider and 
judge, Trooper Hunter could not but see that though these frontier 
steeds might lack the dainty trappings and satin coats of the park and 
avenues of Gotham, there was life and spirit, fire and endurance, in 
almost every one in each of the seven columns. Standing by the 
northward gate, he keenly studied each troop as it came jogging briskly 
in. The colonel and the major, the adjutant and certain other officers, 
seemed to have grouped about the carriages of the ladies at the edge 
of the drill-ground, but at least one officer rode with every troop, — 
the best opportunity the new-comer yet had enjoyed of studying these 
future comrades with whom he might never expect to exchange a word 
or meet with more than the formal and punctilious touch of the hand 
to cap. They were moving at ease now until each troop in succession 
might cross the sentry-post and be called to attention in recognition 
of the salute of its solitary occupant. Hunter watched the man as he 
halted, faced outward as the nearest troop drew nigh, then snapped his 
carbine to the present as the head of the column turned to enter the 
gate, and Captain Gregg whipped out his sabre, gave voice over his 
shoulder to the prolonged ’Tensh-o-o-on” which brought every man’s 


484 


RAY’S RECRUIT, 


head and eyes up and to the front, and then, looking square at the 
sentry, lowered the glittering blade in acknowledgment of the honor 
paid to himself and his command. Hunter’s eyes kindled at the sight. 
No matter how humble the private soldier, there at least, on post as 
sentry, he could expect the recognition of the President himself, than 
whom in the eyes of the — th there lived no grander potentate on 
earth. Then, the next thing Hunter knew, the troop came tripping 
by the line of picket-fence on which he leaned, gazing out upon the 
spirited scene beyond ; and now it was his turn. The teachings of the 
old days in the famous regiment, wherein every man might be said to 
have worn kid gloves when not on military duty, were fresh in his 
mind, as he had been well schooled in the first principles of soldier 
duty. Yet Hunter felt the blood was mounting to his temples and 
his heart was beating quicker as he faced the coming column, braced 
his heels together, and raised his hand to the cap visor, as Captain 
Gregg came ambling by. The big troop-leader glanced curiously at 
the lonely figure in the cheap fatigue dress, and again, but with far 
less precision, returned the salute, and Hunter could not but note the 
difference. Before another troop could pass him by, he moved quickly 
away, twenty yards or more beyond the gate, where he still could have 
good look at the returning soldiery, but was himself beyond saluting 
distance. One after another the seven separate compact little columns 
of fours marched steadily in, and jogged on down the gentle slope 
towards the huge wooden stables. He was still gazing in some odd 
fascination after the last, the roan troop, when the sound of bounding 
hoofs, whirring wheels, and gay laughter recalled his wandering 
thoughts, and, turning sharply to the prairie once more, his eyes fell 
upon the foremost of the rapidly nearing carriages. 

It was a light, open phaeton, drawn by two spirited bays, whose 
fine action and well-made harness won his instant approval. Beside 
the carriage trotted the stocky, burly major whom he so well remem- 
bered the day of his first interview with Dana in the office. On the 
other side rode Dana himself, a handsome young soldier, and, far more 
interested in them than in the possible occupants of the vehicle. Hun- 
ter was looking upon them with a soldier’s eye, keenly appreciative of 
Dana’s graceful, easy seat and of Mainwaring’s good, if bulky, horse- 
manship, when he suddenly became aware of the fact that instead of 
turning in at the gate the driver was heading straight southward, evi- 
dently intending to drive around to the main gate instead of passing, 
as Hunter had come, through that portion of the post best known as 
Sudstown.” 

Another minute, and they must flash past him, not ten yards away, 
with only that low picket-fence between them. Already the sentry 
had halted and presented arms, both officers touching their caps in 
acknowledgment. Already the swift team was darting past the gate. 
The lady occupants of the stylish vehicle were whisking into view, and, 
yielding to sudden and uncontrollable impulse. Hunter whirled about, 
jumped the shallow ditch, and sprang behind the nearest of the little 
houses devoted to the use of the married soldiers. In that one swift 
glance at the fair occupants he had seen a face at sight of wdiich the 


RAY’S RECRUIT. 


485 


blood went rushing to his own. There, side by side, were Mrs. Main- 
waring and the young lady whom he had picked up in his arms the 
night of that head-on’^ collision at Alkali Flats. 


CHAPTER VII. 

Major Stannard had won his bet, and Mainwaring was more 
than usually grumpy^^ in consequence. Ray and his men, riding like 
the wind, had run down the train-robbers before they reached the 
Dry Fork, and in a long, stern chase had overhauled first one man, 
then another, until darkness set in and hid the leading fugitives from 
sight. Seven lively specimens of the border ruffian were the captives 
of the sorrel troop by nightfall, and, closely guarded, these were the 
men turned over next morning to Mr. Sheriff Conway when that much 
fatigued official and his posse reached the spot where Ray and his men 
had made camp the night before. Ray himself, with a dozen troopers, 
had pushed on at daybreak, following the trail of the fugitives in 
hopes of capturing the more prominent members of the party, who, as 
it turned out, had most of the ill-gotten booty, while his lieutenant, 
Mr. Scott, remained in charge of the main body and of the prisoners 
until the arrival of the civil authorities, who promptly demanded and 
obtained possession. Conway and his posse, rejoicing, turned home- 
ward at once with their dishevelled prizes, hoping to reach Butte and 
receive a triumph by evening of the next day. Seven train-robbers 
was more than had ever been caught before in the history of the 
Territory, and great would be the rejoicings. Securely bound, the 
hickless captives, each man lashed to the stirrup of some one of the 
numerous posse, trudged painfully along the homeward trail. Silent, 
resolute, almost defiant, no one of their number would give the whisper 
of a hint as to the identity of the leaders or of one another. All were 
strangers to Butte. Neither Conway nor his deputies had ever seen 
one of their faces before. Lieutenant Scott had lost no time in 
saddling and pushing on after his captain, two of the posse riding with 
him so as to give the possibly necessary civil sanction to the arrest of 
the robbers and to take the customary civil credit for the same, naively 
explaining, ‘^You fellows in the regular army don’t need it: we do, 
or there’s no chance for Conway’s crowd next election.” 

And on his triumphant homeward way, what was more natural 
than that Conway should march through Ransom the following even- 
ing just as the ghost-like column in white stable-frocks came swinging 
up to barracks through the gloaming? As the shortest road ran close 
to the men’s quarters, it happened that the burly sheriff, with his cap- 
tive train, went clattering by the long wooden porches, and such 
troopers as happened to be excused from stables — precious few in 
Atherton’s regiment — came rushing out of quarters to see them. All 
the companies had had to stand to heel” and have their stalls inspected 
before they started up the slope, but in Ray’s stable were only a few 
horses, and the few men under charge of Sergeant Merriweather had 


486 


RAY’S RECRUIT. 


already gone to barracks, and were there when Conway came through, 
and of this few was the new trooper. Hunter. 

Still wearing his white stable-frock, and looking a trifle tired and 
sombre, the recruit had stopped at the corner of the porch and was 
gazing with but languid interest at Conway’s motley cavalcade, when 
Merriweather joined him. precious lot of jail-birds,” said the 

sergeant, as the party came jogging by, sheriff and deputies grinning 
affably, and many of the latter shouting words of condolence to the 
stay-at-homes who hadn’t been partakers with them in the glories of 
the chase and capture. Four prisoners had trudged wearily by, while 
Trooper Hunter replied briefly but without especial civility to the 
sergeant’s remark. Then came the fifth, whose eyes, haggard and 
hunted-looking, glanced up just one second at the man in stable-frock 
at the edge of the porch, and instantly there was a flash of recognition. 
Sergeant Merriweather, turning to his companion in surprise, saw him 
gazing after number five with an expression of amazement and dismay 
upon his handsome face. 

Then you’ve met one of these fellows before, have you ?” said 
Merriweather, with instant suspicion. 

But Hunter answered never a word, and, turning short, plunged 
into the shadows of the great, gloomy barrack. 

Not for forty-eight hours longer did Captain Ray return, and with 
him came the two deputies and one more prisoner. The others, so said 
the hoof-tracks, had scattered during that first night over the face of 
the earth, and even the trail soon became indistinct on the hard prairie 
beyond the Ska ; but enough was known to warrant the statement that 
two of the number had gone towards the agencies away to the north- 
east, and that their mounts were evidently blooded stock, far swifter 
than Ray’s, for never once had their leaders been in view, and there 
was no use in further pursuit. Huddled in the county jail, the eight 
malefactors were awaiting the action of the civil authorities and 
their identification by the railway people while Ray and his returned 
men shook off the dust of travel and settled down to garrison duty 
again. The first thing demanded of Sergeant Merriweather was an 
account of his stewardship and the progress of the new trooper, and 
Merriweather looked solemn and mysterious, and was finally under- 
stood to say that he had nothing to complain of in him, but he ‘^reck- 
oned other people might.” Whereupon Ray bade him speak out. The 
Kentuckian could not tolerate insinuation or innuendo in a soldier. 
And Merriweather told the story of the mutual recognition of Hunter 
and the unknown captive. 

It was the evening of his return to Ransom, and just before tattoo, 
which in those days was always accompanied by a roll-call. 

“ See if Hunter is in quarters,” said the captain, “and send him to 
me.” And Merriweather hastened on his errand. 

No. The men in barracks said the swell recruit was out some- 
where. “ Mabbe he’s gone down to pay his respects to Mrs. Merri- 
weather, sergeant,” sneered an ill-conditioned fellow, a man no other 
liked, yet who had served with the old troop over half a dozen years. 
Merriweather knew it would never do to notice the remark, but it 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


487 


stung him all the same. Find him, you, and tell him the captain 
wants him at once,^^ said he to the would-be sneerer, then slammed the 
door behind him and sprang out into the night. He had not been 
home for nearly an hour, and he needed, he told himself, a drink : so 
thither he went. 

Bright lights were burning in some of the quarters, dim ones in 
others, but in his own the light seemed lowered to the verge of dark- 
ness. Not two yards from his door the tall figure of a man in soldier 
overcoat loomed into view, and, peering closely at him, Merriweather 
discovered the recruit. 

Where you been. Hunter was the sharp, stern demand. 

Looking for you, sergeant,^^ was the quiet reply. 

Who sent you And there were both anger and suspicion in the 

tone. 

‘^Oh, no one. I wished to speak with you a moment. I want 
some advice.^^ 

There is no need of your coming here, then. You’ve seen me a 
dozen times in the last two days : why didn’t you ask it then ?” 

For a moment the younger man was silent; surprise and disap- 
pointment clouded his face. So, too, there crept into it a shade of 
indignation, and it showed plainly in the tone of his reply. 

‘‘ I had no need of it then,” was the answer, as the younger soldier 
looked squarely into the eyes of the senior. Then, just as when 
angered by the overbearing ways of Major Mainwaring, Hunter’s high 
spirit overmastered his resolution to take men and matters as he found 
them, and his eyes, too, flashed angrily. Whatever thought I had 
of it ten minutes ago,” he said, ‘^is gone now. I won’t trouble you.” 

And with that he would have gone his way, but Merriweather, 
smarting with jealousy and suspicion, threw himself across his path. 

You go no further, young man, till you hear what I’ve got to say. 
This is the third time in less than a week you’ve been prowling here 
around my door. Keep your distance in future. D’ye understand ? 
No man enters that house except on my invitation. Now you go to 
Captain Ray and tell him I sent you.” 

For a moment the tall young soldier stood there, too astonislied to 
make reply. He had heard the men talk of Merriweather as tough 
on recruits.” He had understood that new men must take a great deal 
of bullying from the elders, — that it was purposely done to try their 
temper and test their sense of subordination. Hitherto he had looked 
upon Merriweather’s asperities as having no personal significance. 
Now, for the first time, it flashed upon him that he was singled out for 
harsh, overbearing, and abusive language from a man coarse by nature, 
mentally, physically, and socially his inferior. All on a sudden the hot 
blood boiled in his veins, and, forgetful of his new obligations, reck- 
less of anything but his wrath. Trooper Hunter hit out straight, hard, 
and well, taking Merriweather squarely between the eyes and knocking 
him flat. The resounding thwack of the blow, the heavy crash of the 
fall, were echoed from the door-way by a woman’s startled cry, and 
the next thing Hunter knew as he stood there still quivering, his fist 
clinched and ready to dash again at his floored victim, now feebly 


488 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


struggling to his knees, the slender form of the sergeant^s wife was 
bending over the beaten man ; then she threw herself upon her knees 
beside her prostrate husband. 

You’ve struck him cruel hard,” she moaned. Oh, you shouldn’t 
have minded what he said, Mr. Hunter. He’s awful jealous. — There, 
Danny, sit still, — sit still,” she pleaded, soothingly. Run for a little 
water, Mr. Hunter; he’s bleeding fearful. Do be still, Danny. Sure 
the gentleman never set foot inside your door, nor spoke a word to me. 
You’re foolish, Danny.” She strove to stanch the blood with her 
handkerchief, but he was slowly regaining his faculties, and thrust her 
rudely away, and then she saw he was fumbling inside the breast of 
his coat, and fear gave her strength. Hunter had taken a dipperful 
of water from the barrel at the side of the little hut, and was bringing 
it, dripping, wondering as he came what would be tlie outcome of this 
mad impulse, but she met him half-way, seized the dipper, and bade 
him go. Quick,” she panted; ^Mon’t stop an instant now. Get 
away before he comes to himself, or he’ll shoot. Go instantly, please, 
Mr. Hunter, or maybe he’ll kill me too.” 

can’t go if I’ve hurt him. I must help him up,” he began, 
but she clutched his arm with trembling hands and whirled him about 
towards the barracks. 

No, no ; leave everything to me. Don’t come here till I tell you. 
Don’t you speak of this to a soul, unless you want him to kill me. He’ll 
never harm me now unless he sees you still here ; but not a word of 
it. I can keep him quiet.” Then she pushed him violently from her, 
just as the sergeant, staggering to his feet, held forth a feeble hand as 
though seeking support. 

And at that moment, up along the line of barracks, the trumpets 
began the spirited music of the tattoo. The doors of neighboring 
cottages began to open, and soldier forms, enveloped in the long caped 
overcoats, hastened forth. Irresolute, bewildered, hardly knowing 
what he did and far from knowing what he ought to do. Trooper 
Hunter hurried from the spot, breasted the slope to the bench” on 
which was spread the garrison proper, and found full two-thirds of his 
troop already gathering in front of their quarters awaiting the signal 
to form ranks, — the quick, stirring assembly. 

Did you see Doyle ? He was looking for you. Hunter,” chir- 
ruped a little Patlander. You’re blowing, man. Where ye running 
from ?” 

But Hunter made no reply. Hooking the collar of his overcoat 
and buttoning it throughout, he stepped quietly to the point where the 
centre of his troop usually formed for roll-call, for his place in ranks 
was close behind a tall corporal who marked the left of the first platoon. 
The first sergeant, silent and solitary, his swinging lantern in his hand, 
stood a few yards away, gazing out across the dim parade at the bright 
lights in the distant quarters of the officers. The soldierly form of 
the second lieutenant could be dimly discerned a few yards beyond the 
sergeant. To the right and left, in front of the other barrack build- 
ings, big black groups of men were gathiered and sergeants’ lights 
were gleaming, all awaiting the next signal. Suddenly it came, quick^ 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


489 


rippling, merry. Fall in,’^ were the hoarse words growled from half 
a dozen soldier throats. The groups quickly resolved themselves into 
two long columns of files that faced to their left the instant the music 
ceased, and stood motionless while, with the ease and rapidity of daily 
practice, the sergeant called the roll. 

The non-commissioned head of the sorrel troop twice repeated one 
name in a questioning, surprised tone, then faced his lieutenant and 
reported, Sergeant Merri weather absent, sir.’’ The officer acknow- 
le^ed the salute, said, Dismiss the troop,” and, facing about, found 
himself confronting the unexpected apparition of Captain Ray, and 
heard in the soft dialect of the Blue Grass his captain’s words : 

Send Trooper Hunter to me, sergeant, directly you dismiss.” 

And while Lieutenant Scott went away to report the result of roll- 
call to the adjutant, and the sergeant again faced his company. Hunter 
felt his heart sink within him. Already Merri weather, then, had man- 
aged to get word to his ca{)tain, and the captain was there to wreak 
vengeance on him, the luckless offender. In violation of the strictest 
articles of war, he. Hunter Gray, had struck down his superior officer, 
and was now to suffer the penalty of the law. 

You hear, Hunter : the captain wants you.” Then, Break 
ranks. March !” was the order, and the troop, cohesive and compact 
but the moment before, dissolved at the word and fell to pieces, leaving 
the new member standing all alone. For one moment he remained 
there to pull himself together, then, nerved to face the worst, strode out 
to meet his fate, his heart thumping in his breast. 

Hunter,” said the captain, did I not understand you to say that 
you were a total stranger west of the Missouri, and that you had 
neither friends nor enemies out here ?” 

^^Yes, sir,” was the trooper’s reply, his hand still at the cap 
visor. 

Then how did you come to know that prisoner in the lot brought 
in by the sheriff?” 

Hunter was silent. 

You admit having seen him before?” 

^ado, sir.” 

Where and when ?” 

Before I joined the regiment, sir. I met him with another man 
at Pawnee.” 

Captain Ray was silent a moment. He stood scrutinizing in deep 
concern the pale, clear-cut face before him. 

When I vouched for you in the adjutant’s office the day of your 
enlistment, I felt somehow that you were a truthful man and not a 
runagate, and I don’t wish to be disappointed in you. I don’t want to 
find a man with a clouded record in my troop. What do you know 
about that robbery ?” 

Nothing more than everybody else, sir, — that it took place, and 
that ” but here again he hesitated. 

Well, that what. Hunter?” said Captain Ray, noting the soldier’s 
significant pause. 

Nothing more, sire I met one of the prisoners at Pawnee in a 


490 


RAY'S RECRUIT, 


restaurant some few weeks ago. I never saw him before, and I’ve 
never seen him since — except that day.” 

Kay stood calmly studying his man. I told you it was taking 
chances to enlist an applicant who looked as though he might have 
been a man of high social standing,” said he, presently, ‘‘and you 
looked me in the eye and said I shouldn’t regret taking you in my 
troop. You’ve been with me barely a week, and already you are the 
object of suspicion. How long will it be before I hear you directly 
accused of something to make me deeply regret my over-confidence ?” 

Hunter started as though to speak, but the words died on his lips. 
From the direction of the barracks a soldierly step was swiftly ap- 
proaching. The turf beneath their feet began to light up with the 
gleam of a nearing lantern. It was the first sergeant again, and 
Hunter heard him abruptly halt, true to the formal etiquette of the 
old cavalry days, and await his captain’s signal to approach. 

“ Kemain here a moment,” said Ray to his anxious recruit. — What 
is it, sergeant ?” 

“ I found Sergeant Merriweather, who was absent from roll-call, at 
his quarters, sir.” 

Ray frowned. Another instance of Merriweather’s falling oif since 
his marriage. 

“ What excuse had he for his absence?” was the brief question. 

“ Well, sir, his wife says that he had met with a mishap, — had a 
fall in the dark. But it looked to me more like a blow, and he 
couldn’t deny it, sir.” 

“A blow? Assaulted? When, and by whom?” 

“Just a few minutes ago, sir. Close to his own door, I think.” 

Ray’s head went back with a jerk, an odd old trick of his when 
mentally aroused. “ He must know who did it, unless he was struck 
from behind. Did you ask him?” 

“ Certainly, sir, and he declares he didn’t see, and Mrs. Merri- 
weather declares it was two men, and they ran away towards barracks 
the moment they downed him.” 

For a few seconds the sergeant stood looking at his captain’s per- 
plexed face. Then the recruit suddenly and impulsively stepped for- 
ward. Before he could speak. Captain Ray threw up his hand in 
warning gesture, as though commanding silence. The first sergeant 
whirled abruptly and stood facing towards the distant south gate. 
Borne on the night wind came a confused medley of hoarse murmurs, 
of distant shouts, of rapid-running feet ; then, from far out across the 
townward stretch of prairie, the muffled report of fire-arms, one, two, 
three ; and from the direction of the guard-house a soldier came rush- 
ing like a Wyoming gale. 

“ What is it, Kid ?” sang out the sergeant to the sprinter. 

“Sheriff Conway — stabbed, and his prisoners loose. They want 
the doctor.” 

“ Why,” said Ray, in surprise, “ what business could he have out 
here ? What does it mean ?” 

“They were telling me just before tattoo, captain, that Conway 
came out with a warrant for some one here at the fort, but asked to see 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


491 


Prisoner Healy, one of the two that escaped the night of the train- 
robbery, — the one of the two that was recaptured. The man must 
have knifed him and got away.^^ 

Is Captain Ray there came a call from the darkness, in the 
deep, well-known voice of the colonel, and Ray sprang to answer. 
Then the sergeant turned on Trooper Hunter. 

Look here, young feller,^^ said he. ‘‘ They tell me you’re the 
chap Conway wanted.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 

A GENERAL, court-martial had convened at Ransom for the trial 
of such enlisted men as should be brought before it, and the president 
thereof looked out from behind his newspaper during a lull in the 
proceedings, and, with the characteristic expression which seemed to 
say, Don’t you dare lie to me now,” popped the following ques- 
tion : 

Blake, what’s the name of the Three Guardsmen ?” 

And Blake, never laying down his paper or changing a muscle 
of his long, sallow countenance, placidly and promptly responded, 
‘‘ Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos.” 

Captain Gregg, sitting at the right of the presiding officer, after 
reflecting profoundly a moment, slowly nodded, as though to say. 
Right, though I didn’t think you knew.” Captain Truscott, sitting 
opposite Gregg and busily occupied with a letter, glanced quickly from 
under his heavy lashes and compressed his lips. Some of the young- 
sters farther down the long table looked a bit mystified ; but Blake’s 
balance-wheel, Captain Ray, was not a member of the court, and 
probably would have accepted the reply as authoritative had he been 
there, for Ray was no reader. It was the questioner who looked dis- 
satisfied, and the questioner, as usual, was Mainwaring. 

For a moment he pondered, scowling at Blake the while, then 
outspoke : 

Well, that’s all right, probably ; but what I want to get at is the 
name of that other fellow with ’em — Dee — something — how do you 
pronounce it?” 

Depends on whether you’re in a salon or a saloon, major,” 
answered Blake. ^‘Dartanyan in one case and Dee Arta^nan in 
t’other. What have you stumbled on now ?” 

Nothing much. Reading about a fellow that named his horse 
that and thinks he’s going to sweep the race-tracks from Jerome Park 
to Jerusalem. Dee — what d’ you call him? I wouldn’t ride one of 
their steeple-chases on an English saddle if you’d give me a thousand 
dollars.” 

I wouldn’t care to ride one on any other kind ; certainly not on 
one of our service saddles,” said Blake, whose long legs could wrap 
around any horse in the regiment. ‘‘ Those high, sharp pommels are 
the worst kind of thing to use ’cross country.” 

Not if you know how to ride,” said the major, who loyally stood 


492 


RAV^S RECRUIT. 


by everything that was regulation. I’ll bet you any real cavalryman 
wull tell you that he’d rather use a McClellan for any kind of riding 
than any other kind of saddle.” 

Done !” said Blake, and leave it to Stannard or Bay.” And 
here he kicked across under the table to rouse his opposite fellow- 
member to full rejoicing in the colloquy, for Mainwaring couldn’t bear 
to hear Stannard quoted as authority on any subject, and was sure that 
Ray was a vastly overrated officer. 

^^What does Stannard know about it, anyhow?” bristled Main- 
waring : he never rode anything but a McClellan. And as for 
Ray, I know a dozen better riders and cavalrymen who agree with 
me.” 

‘^All right. You come out to the hurdles after court adjourns, 
major, and we’ll give you a chance to see the difference. That pretty 
mare of Mrs. Ray’s is to have a jumping-lesson this afternoon, and 
you can try both saddles and systems, if you like.” 

But the re-entrance of the judge-advocate with the prisoner put a 
stop to the chat, and Mainwaring called the court to order. 

A week had rolled by since the night of the assault on Sergeant 
Merriweather and the stabbing of Sheriff Conway. The first episode 
seemed to have died out of the interest of even the few who knew of 
it, for Merri weather’s lips were sealed, but the second was still the 
topic of excited talk. 

And well it might be. Armed with a warrant, so he claimed, for 
the arrest of certain soldiers of the garrison, Conway had come to the 
post about tattoo that evening, had stopped at the guard-house and 
asked to see Prisoner Healy, a soldier under charges of assault and 
robbery of a fellow-trooper only a few weeks before. Healy and a 
companion confined as an accomplice had sawed their way out and 
escaped, as has been told, but the former was recaptured and brought 
back. He was a merry little Irishman, an almost universal favorite 
before the trouble occurred. The garrison declared to a man he couldn’t 
have had a hand in the robbery, though it was probable he couldn’t 
have kept out of the assault. But evidence of a serious character was 
piled up against him when he made the suspicious attempt to get away. 
Conway was possessed with the idea that Healy knew something about 
the train-robbery. No one could surely identify any of the seven 
languishing in Butte’s stronghold, and the sheriff was at his wits’ end. 
The officer of the guard had gone over to get his heavy coat and to 
change into rough rig for the night when Conway appeared, and an 
over-confident sergeant, detailing a sentry to stand close by, permitted 
Healy to come out of the prison-room and be questioned. At first the 
young Irishman was stubborn and would tell nothing, but gradually 
he made admissions and kept glancing fearfully over his shoulder as 
though he thought the sentry might hear. So Conway drew him around 
behind the portico of the heavy log structure, and told the sentry to 
come no nearer : he would be responsible. The very next minute the 
sentry heard a stifled cry, a scuffie. Healy darted away like a shot into 
the darkness. The sentry and the guard pursued in vain, and Conway 
lay stabbed to the hilt of a ghastly-looking knife. He had bled almost 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


493 


to death before the surgeon reached him or unskilled hands could check 
the flow. Now he was lying at the post hospital, slowly convalescing, 
but very weak and dazed. 

The question was, what had become of Healy ? Where was he in 
hiding? for no man answering his description had boarded the Trans- 
continental trains far or near. Butte was a big, straggling frontier 
town, illimitable in its future possibilities, said the promoters,^’ and 
equally illimitable in present devices for concealing stolen property or 
stealing practitioners. Butte had a large floating population and small 
sinking fund, the latter devoted to rewards for capture of malefactors, 
and Conway had a wide-spread reputation for sleepless vigilance and 
luckless ventures. He made many arrests, and nearly as many errors 
in the eyes of the law, since convictions were few and far between. 
He had gloried in his seven desperadoes just about forty-eight hours. 
Then, as man after man looked them over and said he couldn’t testify 
against them, as they proved to be perfect strangers, Conway’s face 
grew lined and anxious. It began to look as though failure were again 
about to stamp him, when some one suggested that Pat Healy at the 
post could tell him all he wanted to know, and somebody else whispered 
that the sooner he got every man even remotely connected with the 
robbery the better would it be for his chance of re-election. Then he 
came to Ransom trebly armed, but his very first victim proved far too 
clever, adroit, and dangerous. The knife was driven furiously, and it 
was God’s mercy the sheriff was not killed outright. 

And then Miss Leroy, the Mainwarings’ guest, had developed an 
odd fad for an Eastern girl. A more independent young woman had 
never been seen at Ransom. She was always unlike other girls, said 
Mrs. Mainwaring. She had always visited the poor and needy at home, 
had headed all manner of charitable schemes as a young girl, and had 
a mania for reading aloud to the sick. Few of the ladies of the — th, 
deeply imbued though some of them were with religious faith, had 
ever thought it their duty to visit the patients in the big post hospital. 
The surgeon and the steward did all that. The young assistant surgeon 
was a bachelor and susceptible. Miss Leroy’s plea to be allowed to 
visit the hospital was eagerly granted, and he himself was there to 
escort her. One of the first patients to interest her was SheriS* Con- 
way, to whom she was now reading aloud an hour every morning. 
Mild raillery had no effect upon her. Expostulation was not resorted 
to, for it speedily developed that, with all her slender, dainty physique. 
Miss Leroy had a vigorous, if placid, will of her own. The post 
surgeon had said there was no harm whatever, in fact it was a blessing 
to more patients than one, therefore by all means let Miss Leroy keep 
it up. Thereafter there was no one to say her nay. Secretly Mrs. 
Mainwaring had hoped the colonel and her husband would express 
disapproval, but, with the perversity of their sex, they persisted in 
saying to Miss Leroy that she was an angel of goodness, and it was a 
wonder that other women had not done likewise long before. By the 
time she had been three weeks at Ransom Kate Leroy was better known 
and infinitely better loved in the quarters of the married soldiers whose 
little ones were ailing, and in the wards of the big hospital, than all 


494 


RAY’S RECRUIT. 


but two or three of the ladies of the regiment. It was a new departure 
at the post. 

Day after day, then, was she to be seen, each morning about ten 
o^clock, on her way to her patients, and with them she would stay until 
orderly call sounded at noon. There were four men in hospital when 
she began ; there were seven men at the end of the w^ek, and the 
doctor said she was making it too attractive a place after all. 

Next thing,^^ said Wilkins, ^‘she’ll be after beatifying the gyard- 
house.’^ 

Mrs. Mainwaring found that telling her niece what people said 
about this fad of hers had no effect whatever. So she went a bit fur- 
ther, and told her things people really had not said, but might say : 
this, too, fell harmless. Afternoons and evenings Miss Leroy was 
ready to devote to social duties and Mrs. Mainwaring, but the morning 
readings to the men in the convalescent ward went on without inter- 
ruption or noteworthy incident an entire week ; then came a change in 
the arrangement. 

True to his colors, Mainwaring was out at the hurdles ten minutes 
before anybody else that afternoon, and loudly calling for Blake to 
come and make good his word. He came soon enough, Mrs. Ray and 
Mrs. Blake, two charming women, with him. Presently out rode 
Captain Billy on his old favorite Dandy,^^ now a sedate steed over 
ten years of age ; after him strode his Irish groom Hogan, leading a 
beautiful little bay mare, all points and elasticity, a spirited, dancing 
creature, with dainty head and legs, brilliant eyes, pretty pointed ears, 
and a satin coat that fairly glistened. The hurdles were at the edge 
of the drill-ground on the northeast side of the post, and no sooner 
was the party sighted from the barracks than a number of troopers 
made their way to the fence, and, with appreciative eyes, stood watching 
at respectful distance the preparation for Stella^s first lesson with side- 
saddle and skirt. 

Among the men was Sergeant Merriweather, still discolored as to 
his face, but an interested spectator for all that. Mainwaring, Ray, 
and Blake were in riding dress, Mainwaring and Ray in saddle, and 
Mainwaring’s first bellow was, Now, where’s your English saddle?” 

Coming,” said Blake, coolly, and pointed towards the stables, 
whence, at easy gait, a tall, slender soldier came riding a troop horse, 
carrying something over his arm. Blake recognized at once Ray’s 
recent acquisition, Hunter. Mainwaring stopped glaring at Blake, 
turned and gazed at the new-comer with all his eyes, and then whirled 
in saddle towards Ray and ejaculated, Well, I’ll be damned !” There 
were times when even the presence of ladies couldn’t restrain Main- 
wari ng’s impulse to verbal outbreaks. 

Thought you had a whole troop of rough riders, Ray,” said he, 
after again glowering at the new-comer until he grew tired of the calm 
indifference which rewarded his gaze. This ain’t one of your lot, is 
it? I’ve seen him before.” 

^‘Yes, the day you persuaded him not to enlist,” laughed Ray, 
good-naturedly. ‘‘ I roped him in afterwards.” Then, lowering his 
voice, He’s got a hand on a horse’s mouth as light as a child’s.” 


RAY^S RECRUIT, 


495 


The tall recruit had dismounted from his own troop-horse, and, 
having thrown the reins over a picket of the fence, was now quietly 
approaching Stella, with a light English saddle in his hand. Hogan, 
dismounted, was petting her glossy neck and speaking soothingly, but 
the pretty creature, with ears erect, was switching about, apparently 
hunting for something at which to shy, and the ladies^ furs gave her 
ready excuse. The moment Mrs. Ray stepped forward to pat her, 
Stella backed vigorously, dragging Hogan with her, and, despite Ray’s 
practised hand extended to aid, back she persisted in going until she 
bumped into the hurdle-post. This furnished excuse for a kick and a 
plunge. Ray sprang from his saddle, and, telling Hogan to look after 
Dandy, himself took Stella’s bit and began Blue Grass expostulation, 
which seemed more intelligible than Irish. At all events, the mettle- 
some creature quieted down long enough to admit of Hunter’s approach, 
and that tall, silent young soldier quickly set and girthed the saddle, 
and then, at a nod from his captain, vaulted on her back, Ray letting 
go the moment the reins were gathered. 

And then did Stella dance nimbly, daintily about, playful and 
spirited, but not in the least vicious. Hunter giving her head abundant 
room to toss, and maintaining only light and easy pressure on the bit. 
Mainwaring sniffed disdainfully at the uncavalrylike pose, the long, 
flat seat, the knees far to the front, the feet set home in the stirrups 
and away forward. He sniffed still more when Stella began to bound 
and curvet, and Hunter rose slightly in his stirrups, riding lightly, spring- 
ingly, and never thinking of sitting fast. Ray called to Merriweather 
to bring one or two men and come over to the hurdles, and, without an 
audible word, the order was obeyed, though it was remarked at the time 
that the sergeant hesitated a bit, possibly because of his disfigured face. 

Try her over the bar first, Ray,” said Mainwaring. And, with 
a man stationed at each post and the bar set easily nearly three feet 
from the ground. Hunter guided his pretty mount to the spot, let her 
sniff at and examine the strange affair, then as quietly rode her a dozen 
yards away, turned her head to the bar, and, relaxing the reins, gave 
her the hint to go, his long sinewy legs close pressed to the saddle. 
Stella came at it delightedly, but changed her mind with the second 
stride, and would have flown the track but for the firm hand and closed 
leg. Finding she couldn’t dodge and had to do it, she rose high, and, 
half affrighted, cleared the bar and came bounding lightly to the turf, 
then bolted away with blood in her eye and the bit in her teeth. Only 
a few rods, however. Hunter, sitting her like wax now, reined her 
round in broad circle, headed her back for the group, gradually check- 
ing her speed as he neared the party. 

Try it from that side,” said Ray, and over she popped, light as a 
bird. A third and a fourth time was the leap repeated, Stella enjoying 
being the centre of attraction and improving on her efforts. Then 
came the attempt at the wider hurdle, a man being stationed at each 
end to give her the idea of posts between which she must jump : this, 
too, proved a bagatelle. And all this time Hunter had never opened 
his lips to speak. Now, in obedience to the captain’s signal, the 
trooper reined up close to him. 


496 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


What do you think of her jumping?” asked Ray. 

She has been well taught, sir,” was the answer, in low, quiet tone. 

I think she will give Mrs. Ray little trouble ; but she has never been 
ridden with the side-saddle and skirt, I understand.” 

No, she had not. Hogan produced the side-saddle and a cavalry 
blanket. In two minutes the mare was housed in the one and Hunter 
rolled, as to his legs, in the other. This time mounting was not so 
easy. Stella despised that blanket and would not suffer it to come 
near her, and that blanket was to be tried in lieu of a riding-skirt. 
Mainwaring sat on his horse, shouting all manner of suggestions, 
sorely trying Ray^s sense of subordination. At last, impatiently, he 
hazarded the remark, ‘‘ Phoo, Ray ! that man can’t ride. There’s a 
dozen men in my old troop would have had her over the hurdle, 
blanket and all, by this time.” 

The blood rushed to Hunter’s face, and he bit his lip hard. Thus 
far Ray had been holding the mare’s head by the bit, — a hub, so to 
speak, about which she circled, first one way, then the other, to dodge 
the blanket-swathed form. Now the trooper was heard to speak. 

Pardon me, captain, but may I take her myself?” 

Instantly the two ladies exchanged a glance. ^^I told you he 
looked like a gentleman,” said Mrs. Ray, in low tone. 

Then began a very pretty piece of coaxing. With one firm hand 
at the bit, the blanket still strapped about his waist. Trooper Hunter 
had managed to reach Stella’s neck wuth his right hand, and, patting 
her softly, was murmuring gently. Makin’ love to her in Irish,” 
Hogan muttered to Duffy. Several additions had been made to the 
group by this time. The colonel, Dana by his side and followed by 
his orderly, came riding around from the direction of the stables, and, 
doffing his cap to the ladies, sat in saddle an interested spectator. 
Several wives and children of the soldiers had been attracted from 
their quarters to the fence, while a little farther back, aloof from the 
general run of Sudstown people, with a pale-blue shawl, one of Mrs. 
Freeman’s discarded evening wraps, over her head, pretty Mrs. Merri- 
weather stood at gaze. Hunter slowly lifted an edge of the blanket 
and let Stella nose it, which she did, feigned to be much frightened, 
and attempted again to pull away. But at last, wearying of fruitless 
efforts, she consented to smell of it, and then nudged it disdainfully 
aside. The next thing she knew. Hunter had slipped both hands back, 
one to the pommel, the other to her mane, and with agile spring 
alighted on the saddle, threw the right leg over the horn, and, despite 
her plunging, Stella found herself once more under his weight, firmly 
held as ever. Five minutes’ petting made her forget her burden, even 
when shown the shadow of the skirt. In less than ten she had leaped 
the hurdle to and fro half a dozen times, and was realizing she had 
made a fool of herself. And then some unhallowed inspiration seized 
the major. 

What I want is to see how she’ll behave under a cavalry saddle. 
— You’ve ridden one often enough, I suppose?” he said, scowling at 
Hunter. 

Never until I came here, sir.” 


RAY^S RECRUIT, 


497 


Mean to tell me youVe never been in the cavalry 

told the major as much a fortnight ago/^ was the firm yet 
respectful reply. 

Well, where^d you learn to ride, then?’^ asked Mainwaring, who 
had a fixed idea that no one not of the cavalry could be at home in the 
saddle ; this, too, despite long years among vaqueros, Comanches, and 
cowboys. 

I learned to ride as a boy, sir.^^ 

Well, dismount and put on that McClellan saddle,’^ said Main- 
waring, curtly. 

Atherton heard the order, saw the quick glance of the soldier 
towards his captain, and the half-vexed expression in Ray^s face, and, 
glancing at Mrs. Eay, hesitated no longer. 

No, no, major, don^t change the saddle. Let us see how she’ll 
take the bar again. Set it loosely, you men, so that it will slide off 
the pegs if she strikes.” 

Sergeant Merriweather was busily setting the peg at three feet 
again, when, glancing up to see tliat the opposite end was at the same 
notch, he caught sight of the slender figure of his wife standing well 
back of the group at the fence, her eyes fixed, not on him or on the 
ladies, but, with deep, intense interest in her gaze, upon the tall, erect 
young soldier on the spirited mare. Up to this moment Merriweather 
had been silently carrying out his instructions, all his attention given 
to them or to Stella. Of the man in saddle he took apparently no 
notice whatever. Now, forgetting everything else in hand, he stood 
there, half bent over, gazing, with heaven only knows what thoughts 
surging through his brain, straight and steadfast at his unconscious wife. 

‘^Sergeant, don’t you hear?” At last the impatient words seemed 
to reach him, and the flustered face of his comrade at the opposite post 
recalled him to himself. ‘‘ The captain says set it at three feet six. 
Quick ! She’s coming.” 

Coming she was, with a rush. Hunter’s hands held low on her 
withers, his legs dangling on the near side as she bounded over the 
springy turf. Merriweather jerked out the iron peg and thrust it into 
the three-six hole, lifting the bar as he did so, but turning the hook of 
the pin upward instead of down. It was no leap at all. There was no 
reason why she should strike, no reason why, if she did strike, any 
harm would occur. But it was all done in a second of time. Sitting 
sideways, instead of astride, Hunter was at a disadvantage. He could 
not lift her” as he was accustomed. The excited creature dashed at 
the bar as though reckless of its added height ; the off forefoot struck 
the tough, unyielding wood, tripped her, threw her headlong on the 
turf, hurling Hunter, blanket, and herself in a confused and rolling 
heap. A woman’s shriek went up at the instant, but it came not from 
the lips of the women on the field. 

It seemed but another instant before Hunter was on his feet, reins 
in hand, while Stella was struggling to rise. Forgetful of himself, he 
sought to see if the mare were harmed. Ray and Hogan sprang to 
his side. ‘‘ Are you hurt, man ?” they eagerly asked, but he laughed 
it off. 


Yol. LIX.— 32 


498 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


‘‘ Not at all, sir. Fm only troubled about her.^^ 

Panting, wide-eyed, and startled, Stella stood, with heaving flanks, 
wondering what it all meant. Ray hastened to reassure his wife. 
Atherton rode up to satisfy himself the soldier was uninjured. Over 
beyond the roadway and fenee two of the laundresses were leading 
Mrs. Merriweather, shocked and actually weeping, away. At them 
the sergeant stood gazing fixedly, his discolored face working with 
passion, and Captain Blake had twice to bid him pick up the bar 
before he answered and obeyed. 

That^s what you call a stand-oflP, I suppose,^^ muttered the man 
at the opposite post, as Merriweather brushed him by. Don’t tell 
me I don’t know who floored you.” But the sergeant never heard. 
He was hastening after his wife. 

“ Ray,” said the colonel as they were riding into the garrison a few 
minutes later, that was a piece of gross carelessness on the part of 
your sergeant. That man has been getting less reliable every month 
for the last two years. You’d better think twice should he apply for 
re-enlistment.” 

‘‘Gerald,” said clear-sighted Mrs. Blake, as she clung to the arm 
of the captain, after leaving Mrs. Ray at her gate, “ I’m glad that 
didn’t happen in your troop. Are you sure Sergeant Merriweather set 
that pin properly? Wasn’t it his wife that shrieked?” 

“ Pet,” said Mrs. Main waring to her niece, just as the young doctor 
lifted his cap and looked for an invitation to enter, as he met the two 
ladies returning from a call at the Rays’ an hour later, “ you and Dr. 
Jayne came near getting another patient this afternoon, and a most 
interesting one, they say, a mysterious swell in the Sorrels. He might 
serve to make you forget the handsome unknown who played doctor 
for you the night of the collision. — She hasn’t told you about that, I 
suppose, has she, doctor?” 

“’M — ah, no, no indeed,” said Dr. Jayne, in evident dismay. 
“ What was he like, pray ?” 

“ Oh, divinely tall and most divinely fair,” said Mrs. Mainwaring, 
laughing. “Kate has his flask and handkerchief yet, waiting for him 
to return and claim them — and her.” 

And that evening Miss Leroy wondered whether aunts were always 
so disagreeable, or whether this was merely her own fault, and entirely 
her fault, because she had admitted that, though there were agreeable 
men in the regiment, they were all married. 


CHAPTER IX. 

Conway, convalescing, had been bundled back to town, leaving 
blessings on the head of his fair nurse and reader. Corporal Shannon, 
kicked by a mule in the quartermaster’s corral, was installed in his 
place. The daily reading was going on in the hospital, despite social 
duties that grew more exacting as Miss Leroy became better known 
and more appreciated. Over in the sorrel troop’s quarters Hunter, 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


499 


despite inflexible reserve as to his past, had won the good will of most 
of the men. Quin, a garrison bully, pitching upon a smaller comrade 
for a fancied affront, had been himself pitched into a snow-drift, and 
when he rushed at his antagonist was floored flat by as neat a swing on 
the jaw as ever the — th had heard of. It was a new blow, in fact, to 
the regiment, and the story went from barrack to barrack that the 
Sorrels had got a swell boxer as well as rider. Curiosity as to Hunter’s 
antecedents burst all bounds. Major Mainwaring’s assertion that he 
had seen the fellow somewhere before and knew he must be a deserter 
was sufficient to make the recruit an object of interest in garrison 
society, even if he had not won distinction as trainer of Mrs. Ray’s 
beautiful mare, whose delicate mouth and Eastern schooling made her 
somewhat too sensitive for ordinary cavalry handling. Ray, once the 
light rider of the regiment, could have coached her beautifully, but 
Ray was growing bulky with years, and an old bullet- wound in the 
thigh, received during a Sioux campaign years before, was troubling 
him as winter wore on. What no one understood was how Ray came 
to select Hunter, for Ray declared he had no previous knowledge of 
him whatever, which was true. Truscott, when appealed to for his 
opinion, smiled gravely, as was his wont, and said Ray had as unerring 
an eye for a horseman as he had for a horse. But it was in ^^Suds- 
town,” where dwelt the wives and daughters of the soldiery, that 
Trooper Hunter’s goings and comings, doings and sayings, were be- 
coming matters of such absorbing interest. He was credited with 
being fabulously wealthy, among other things, for he certainly had 
money at his command. He also had friends and acquaintances — some 
said a wife and family, or at least a lady-love — somewhere in town, 
for he had twice asked for passes, and more than once was believed to 
have gone thither without that formality. Mrs. Merri weather, who 
held her head so high above the other women, was accused of setting 
her cap” for the stranger, and she laid herself open to calumny by de- 
claring to one or two envious dames that Mr. Hunter was a frequent 
caller, only ‘^Dan” didn’t like it and had warned him off. ^‘Indeed, 
he got to coming too often for his own good,” said she, which meant 
worlds of helpless regret on her part. 

Men sought the confidence of the new soldier, but gave it up in 
ignorance as deep as that with which they came to him. Some he 
laughed at, some he snubbed, none he gratified. It was fortunate he 
knew how to fight, for there were evil spirits that would have mauled 
him otherwise on general principles, but Ray kept a sharp lookout for 
his prot^g^. He, at least, should have fair play, despite the hints of 
the first sergeant that Conway could tell something about him, and had 
even asked him. Sergeant Fellows, where he could find Hunter the 
night he came out with a warrant and was knifed by Healy. Ray 
rode to town and demanded of Conway what he knew or suspected, 
and Conway said, Nothing ; at least nothing that I could prove.” 
Ray had flouted the idea of Hunter’s being connected in any way with 
the train-robbers : indeed, it was doubtful if the leaders would ever be 
caught. They were lost to all search, deep in the Hills, and their 
luckless accomplices were still held awaiting the action of some Federal 


500 


RAY^S RECRUIT, 


official yet to arrive. Stannard and Mainwaring had had almost an 
open rupture, all on account of Hunter, who, daily exercising and train- 
ing Mrs. Ray^s pretty Stella, was, nevertheless, performing all other 
duties with his troop. Mainwaring, noting how successful Hunter had 
been with Stella, concluded that he should like to have him try his 
hand on Velvet, Mrs. Mainwaring’s saddler, who had never been 
known to jump, and was confounded when the trooper most respect- 
fully but positively begged to be excused. Atherton was away, sum- 
moned to meet the department commander at Pawnee. Stannard was 
in temporary command. Mainwaring asked that the trooper should 
be directed to perform duty for him, for wdiich he was perfectly willing 
to pay, or else be ordered to cease doing it for Ray. Stannard said no 
soldier could be compelled to perform menial service for any officer if 
he didn’t wish to, and if he did not wish to train Mrs. Mainwaring’s 
horse he should not be made to. Mainwaring declared training horses 
could not be menial service in the eyes of a true cavalryman, and 
Stannard said that it was if a man thought so. Mainwaring got very 
wroth, and swore that between them, Stannard and Blake and Ray, 
they were bound to spoil a man who gave promise of being a good 
soldier, despite his shadowy antecedents, and again demanded that he 
be ordered to cease handling Stella for Ray. Stannard said he only 
did it for the love of the thing, for practice and recreation, and not for 
emolument, and he should not be denied. Then Atherton came back ; 
Mainwaring appealed to him from Stannard’s decision, and Atherton 
said he’d investigate and decide next morning. 

But it was decided for him that night. 

‘‘ Ray,” said he, at evening stables, whoever set that huge hay- 
stack so close to the stables had no idea of prudence. If it were to 
catch fire your premises would go. I shall order it removed to- 
morrow.” 

Sergeant Merriweather, stable sergeant of the troop up to a week 
before, heard these words, and so did Sergeant Conro, to whom he was 
pointing out certain defects in the mechanism of a grain-chute from 
the loft above their heads. It was storming, and grooming was being 
conducted inside. Merriweather stopped short in his explanation, 
stared at the colonel as though the words had dazed him in some way, 
and then had to be reminded of the subject which he was discussing. 

The wind that had banked the snow-clouds in the southeast during 
the day veered towards nightfall and blew strong from the southwest. 
At tattoo it was whisking the hay from the quartermaster’s corral and 
sending it streaming across the line of stables and out upon the bleak 
prairie, while, still farther along, under the “ bench,” the big hay-stacks 
beyond the corral seemed stripping in the gale, and the biggest of all 
was that which projected half-way across the open space in front of the 
line of gable-ends and just opposite that of Ray’s troop. At tattoo the 
gale was almost a blizzard, and Atherton, ever on the defensive against 
fires, bade the troop officers look well to their company kitchens and 
see that all the ranges and stoves were securely banked, then went over 
to the guard-house in person and held brief consultation with Blake, 
who was officer of the day, and his officer of the guard, who, as ill 


RAY^S RECRUIT, 


501 


luck would have it, was Lieutenant Brady, at whom Atherton looked 
with scant favor. He was a young man whom Blake described as 
^^one of the detriments of the service.^^ He had been fairly well 
educated somewhere, had enlisted when it was too evident he was in 
no condition to make a living otherwise, but that was in the summer 
of ^76, when twenty-five hundred men were suddenly raised by Con- 
gress to fill the gaps in the regiments engaged in the Sioux war, and 
the riff-raff of the Atlantic cities was rushed to the frontier. He won 
a company clerkship in three months, which was considered immense 
good luck, and lost it within the year, which was supposed to be luck 
as bad, but turned out to be the stepping-stone to fortune in the 
soldier’s eyes. He was one of an escort attacked by road agents, and, 
in fighting desperately for his own life, had saved that of the pay- 
master. The sergeant and corporal with them were killed. Brady 
was lanced” on the spot and came home a hero, the subject of a pane- 
gyric from the pen of the paymaster, whose uncle was a Senator of 
much wealth and much knowledge of mining, but little of men. He 
was on the paymaster’s bond for a big sum, and the next thing the 
— th knew a stranger to their ranks appeared with a commission as 
second lieutenant, a glib tongue and a convivial turn, plenty of money 
to start with, and a letter of introduction to Atherton from a famous 
war general, which letter was susceptible of two interpretations and 
was written, there was little doubt, at the instance of the Senator in 
question, a prominent member of the committee on military affairs. 
‘^This will be handed you by Lieutenant Brady,” said the letter, 
“ who so distinguished himself in the affair on the Mimbres last year. 
The department thought best to assign him to the — th, and I have 
assured his friends that in consigning him to you I have placed him in 
the best hands possible.” Senator Sivright was thoroughly satisfied, his 
nephew the paymaster a bit perplexed, but too wise just then to dissect 
any other man’s motives or letters, lest his own should become objects 
of scrutiny. Brady proved a jolly acquisition at first, could sing a 
good song, tell a good story, and was smart” in many ways and lavish 
in all. There was a story (put in circulation by a soldier whose reward 
for that Mimbres affair had been a discharge and not a commission) 
to the effect that when they were suddenly attacked by those despera- 
does the paymaster had crawled under the wagon and cried, and Brady 
‘^allowed” when in his cups that he could tell things, and would if not 
properly persuaded.” Certain it is that for the first year of his service 
Brady spent and drank more than a second lieutenant’s share. Then 
the Senator failed of re-election, owing possibly to some shortcomings 
in his mines ; his nephew, the paymaster, succeeded in planning a 
robbery that worked better ; and this opened the stagnant flow of pro- 
motion in the pay corps, and left Brady without a protector. 

But he held a life office, if he behaved himself, and, being a 
bachelor in a regiment that spent most of its days in the inexpensive 
luxuries of field-service, he had managed to pay his debts and, so long 
as he let whiskey alone, keep out of serious trouble. But Brady and 
John Barleycorn never connected” that the former did not, as Blake 
said, make an ass of himself, and his asininity took shape in a peculiar 


502 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


form of mania that afflicts the bibulous Hibernian, — that of imagining, 
believing, and telling tales of deep and bloody mystery at the expense 
of his fellow-men in higher social esteem than himself. Friends 
Brady had few, enemies none worse than himself. He felt the isola- 
tion of his lot, wanted to marry, and was refused by the girls he 
wanted, which made him gloomier, but campaign work saved him from 
the solace he would have sought, and Brady had been doing fairly 
well, for him, when Rawson returned from leave and gave him a crony 
and an excuse for a start. Atherton whisked the crony off, as has been 
said, before much mischief was done, but he could not banish the 
whiskey, and Brady marched on guard the morning of this eventful 
day, looking much the worse for three weeks^ wear and tear and little 
the better for two strong cocktails. 

Still, he was not incapable of performing his duty, by any means, 
though eyes and nose held out their danger-signals. Blake had given 
him a sharp reminder at retreat, and Brady had taken a stiffer brace 
for fear of consequences. He was feeling shaky when the colonel 
strode into the ill-lighted room of the officer of the guard, Blake at 
his heels, and thus addressed him : Mr. Brady, I want you to keep a 
special watch against fire to-night. Order your sentries about the 
stacks and stables to allow no one to approach them with pipe or cigar. 
Who are sentries on Numbers 5 and 6?^^ 

Brady looked appealingly at the sergeant, who quickly produced 
his lists. ^‘Reinhardt and Monahan, first relief; Blair and Scully 
second ; Duffy and Hunter third, sir. All good men, sir.’^ 

‘^Hunter’s our new man,^^ said the colonel, eying sharply the officer 
of the guard. ^^Have you given him personally his orders?'^ 

N — not his night orders as yet, sir/^ said Brady, well knowing 
he had questioned him as to none of them, day or night. 

Well, sir,^’ said Atherton, ‘^you cannot be too vigilant to-night. 
Make frequent inspections, and see that your non-commissioned officers 
do likewise.^^ Then, as once more he got out into the wind, he bent 
his head to avoid the blast. ^‘Have you cautioned him, Blake? He 
looks anything but alert.^^ 

I don’t think he’s been drinking much to-day, sir. He seems to 
realize that he can take no chances. I’ll keep an eye on him.” 

There was a joyous little gathering at Ray’s that night. The 
Mainwarings, Truscotts, and Blakes, with devoted Dr. Jayne on Miss 
Leroy’s account, had dined there ; a number of post people had dropped 
in later, and Miss Leroy, looking uncommonly well, if not absolutely 
pretty,” said a lady friend, was being made much of by everybody, 
despite a slight propensity on the part of some to be facetious about 
the daily Bible class, for that artful maiden and daughter of the 
church, after getting her auditors interested in tales of flood and field, 
had gradually led on to the introduction of holier themes. By the 
end of the first week the New Testament was slipped in among her 
books, and selected chapters were explained in very different style from 
anything her soldier patients had ever heard before, and these had 
become part of the lesson of the day. Blake declared that Father 
Keefe, of Butte, was getting jealous; but Miss Leroy was serenely 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


503 


superior to auy and all allusions or reflections. She would stoop to 
neither controversy nor defence. It was her faith, and that was 
enough. The quartermaster had laughingly suggested that he thought 
of getting sent to hospital so as to become one of the elect, and Miss 
Leroy had studied his face one moment with those clear, beautiful eyes" 
of hers, and gravely replied that it might be necessary for him to go 
to even greater lengths before he could be considered worthy. Then 
Mainwaring had jocosely asked why she didnT start a missionary 
boom among the officers, whereat Miss Leroy flushed just a little and 
then smilingly replied that it was not because they did not need it 
more than the men she had met, but she had no surplus energy to 
waste. 

Has no surplus seed to sow on barren ground, major, interposed 
Blake. You remember the parable of the hare and the tortoise.^^ 
Which helped Mainw^aring no whit, and only evoked a reproachful 
glance from Miss Leroy, seeing which Blake whispered so that several 
heard, I^d wear sackcloth and ashes a week if Mainwaring could 
prove he knew the difference between Jacob’s Ladder and Jack and 
the Bean-Stalk.” 

Blake,” remonstrated Truscott, a moment later, when he got him 
to one side, ‘‘you must be more prudent, not to say considerate. 
Mainwaring is too good a soldier to be treated with derision, and you’ll 
make an enemy I should hate to see you have, if you continue.” 
Blake had had other warnings. His clear-headed young wife had 
already seen in Mrs. Mainwaring’s somewhat studied courtesy of greet- 
ing that something was amiss, and had little doubt that the major had 
carried home his version of the Three Guardsmen episode in the court- 
room, which was indeed the case, though, fortunately for Blake, Main- 
waring couldn’t remember the strange names so glibly given him. 
Mrs. Blake had sought by every gentle, tactful way in her power to 
make amends for her beloved Gerald’s uncanny propensity to ridi- 
cule, but the wound was deeper with Mrs. Mainwaring than with the 
doughty major. She refused to be mollified, while he, ever tempting 
somebody by his irrepressible habit of launching impetuous comment 
or criticism at anybody whose methods differed from his own, was as 
constantly inviting reprisals. Relations were strained, therefore, and 
Blake should have been more guarded. They had even come to such 
a pass that Mrs. Mainwaring was finding serious fault with her niece 
because of a growing intimacy between her and Nannie Blake, and 
matters were destined to come to a climax in more than one garrison 
affair, and come to it this very night. 

Mrs. Ray had been in ignorance of any serious difference between 
the Mainwarings and Blake. Indeed, she often said she did not see 
how anybody could take Blake seriously. But during the dinner it 
had become apparent more than once. Not in Mainwaring : he, as 
Blake put it, was mannerless as ever. Mainwaring talked as much 
and as loudly to Blake as he did to his hostess, on whose right he sat. 
There were few topics that could be discussed, outside of horse-shoeing, 
grooming, and company kitchens, in which Mainwaring could be con- 
sidered authority, but in one and all was he disputatious, challenging 


504 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


the speaker to prove the words, even, as sometimes happened, when 
the challenged party was a woman and entitled to assert no stronger 
reason than ‘‘ Because/^ 

Mainwaring carried a conversational chip on his shoulder even at 
dinner-parties, and to-night it had been more than ordinarily in evi- 
dence. It was after dinner, and before visitors came dropping in, and 
the five ladies were chatting in the parlor, that Mrs. Mainwaring’s 
constraint towards Mrs. Blake became marked, as well as her frequent 
efforts at breaking in upon the cordial, friendly talk between that lady 
and her niece. 

Finally, just after midnight, when it was time for all to be going 
to their homes, Blake, whose duty as officer of the day had twice called 
him away, again was missing. Ray promptly threw his cape over his 
shoulders to escort Mrs. Blake, although she lived close at hand, and 
with merry chat and laughter the various ladies and their escorts were 
trooping forth into the keen night air, when Mrs. Truscott, who was 
foremost, held up her hand and said, Hush ! I hear something,’^ 
and her face took on an instant expression of alarm. 

The wind was no longer violent, but it blew with steady force 
across the parade, and sounds from the direction of the guard- house 
near the south gate, or the stables along the east front, were carried 
out to the waste of prairie stretching away towards the far, pine-crested 
heights of the Elk range. Yet it was towards the guard-house, whose 
twinkling lights could be plainly seen, that Mrs. Truscott was gazing. 
Mainwaring was, as usual, talking loudest of the party, and was the 
last to cease. Nonsense, Mrs. Truscott, you caif t hear the baby 
crying,’’ he almost derisively exclaimed, whereat the lady stamped a 
shapely foot and spoke as her father, their old colonel, would have 
spoken when his wife was not present, and this time with effect. 

Some one, panting, came running across the parade. It was the 
corporal of the guard. 

Captain Ray,” he cried, Captain Blake says please come to him, 
quick, at the south gate.” 

Ray went like a shot. The corporal started to follow, but Mrs. 
Blake, alarmed and trembling, begged him to stop. 

^^MHiat’s happened?” demanded Mainwaring. Who’s hurt?” 

I don’t know, sir. Nobody’s hurt that I know of, but there’s a 
patrol out.” 

‘‘After some drunken man of Ray’s troop, — that’s all,” said 
Mainwaring, “and Blake don’t want to put him under guard. See if 
it ain’t. Come,” he said, tendering an arm to his wife. 

But Mrs. Blake knew her own mind, and, without a word of reply, 
started straight across the road in the direction taken by Ray. 

“ Oh, don’t go, Mrs. Blake “ Don’t go, Nannie “ I’m sure it’s 
nothing serious,” were the various cries that followed her, but she 
never faltered. “ Good-night,” she cried ; “ I’m going to Gerald.” 
Reluctantly the doctor called after her, — 

“Oh, wait, Mrs. Blake. If you must go, I’ll — I’ll escort you.” 

“Yes,” said Miss Leroy, firmly, “and take me too.” Saying 
which, she started her escort almost on a run. 


RA r RECR VIT. 505 

Pet — Kate — indeed I protest. Indeed you must not go called 
Mrs. Mainwaring, loudly. 

Aw, Kate, don^t be so idiotic,’^ shouted the major, but all to no 
purpose. “ Pet’^ and her obedient ^sculapius were already in swift 
pursuit, and, if not out of hearing, out of sight. 

And then, all of a sudden, the eastward gable ends of the barracks, 
the east side of the guard-house tower, the topmast of the tall white 
flag-staff, were all for one brief instant flashed on the night in a lurid 
glare, and as suddenly died out of sight. Away over beyond the edge 
of the bluff* a dull, smothered, booming sound smote the wintry air, 
and something shook the windows and caused the earth to tremble. 
Then a carbine cracked and a sentry yelled, half stifled ; then came a 
distant sound of crackling, like pistol-shots ; a trumpet pealed, and 
sounds of rush and scurry followed. There was only one explanation, 
— the magazine. 


CHAPTER X. 

It was eleven-thirty that night when Corporal Judkins, posting his 
relief, came stumbling along the rough ground below the bench,^^ 
and turned into the flat between the quartermasters hay-stacks and the 
stables. No. 5 he had posted at the east gate and picked up the 
shivering sentry who for two mortal hours had been swearing and 
trotting up and down in vain effort to keep warm. No. 6, down 
among the shadows of the stacks and stables, was not so easy to find. 
When at last his challenge was heard, he leaped from the shelter of the 
very stack that had called forth the colonePs condemnation that evening 
at stables, and, between cold and excitement — or something, was in- 
coherent in his formula for receiving relief, and had to be sharply 
prompted by the corporal in turning over his orders. What’s the 
matter with you, Scully ?” snarled the corporal. ‘‘ You talk as if you’d 
been asleep. Turn over your orders, man, and don’t keep us shivering 
here.” 

The tall soldier who was to relieve him stood patiently, with his 
carbine at port. Silently he listened to the mumbled words, Allow 
no one to approach the stables or stacks with lighted pipe or cigar. 
Allow no vehicles to be driven to or from the stables, or horses taken 
out except in presence of a commissioned officer, stable sergeant, or non- 
commissioned officer of the guard. Be on the alert for fires, and keep 
special lookout for the sparks from laundresses’ quarters when they 
start their fires in the morning ” And then Judkins cut him short. 

You’ve got ’em twisted; but you know them all, don’t you. 
Hunter ?” 

The tall recruit nodded. 

Take your post,” said the corporal. Fall in, Scully. Darned 
lot of use you’d be to-night. You smell as if you’d been drinking.” 

I wish I had, bedad,” shivered No. 2. Go on, corporal, or we’ll 
never get thawed.” And in a moment more the tramp of the foot- 
steps died away, and Hunter was alone. 


506 


RAV^S RECRUIT. 


He was warmly clad, for, in addition to the fur cap and gauntlets, 
heavy overshoes had been added to the soldier’s equipment for winter 
duty dismounted, and, as there was every indication of snow, the guard 
had been ordered to wear them this night. Then in Ray’s troop they 
had a knack of keeping hot coffee in the kitchen on the bitter winter 
nights for the benefit of their guards, and, though it reminded him but 
feebly of the fragrant Mocha of other days and climes, it had cheered 
him not a little, and he felt alert and vigorous and independent as he 
began patrolling his lonely post. Along the bluff to the westward the 
black bulk of the barracks loomed up against the starry sky. Between 
him and them were, close at hand, the huge hay-stacks, and then the 
scattered huts and cottages of the married men. In one or two of 
these faint night lights were glowing. Several children had been 
ailing, and there were anxious hearts among the lowly. But there 
were no little ones at Merri weather’s, yet a dim light shone from the 
southward window. What manner of man was Merriweather, any- 
way ? pondered the sentry, as, pacing briskly up the open space before 
the stables, he went over in mind the adventure now nearly two weeks 
gone by. Never once, by word or act, had the sergeant shown the 
faintest intention to seek satisfaction for the blow that had floored him. 
True, he never spoke to Hunter, never seemed to see him, and the 
accident to Stella and himself might, despite all the sergeant’s protests 
to his captain, have been the result of his design. Once, twice. Hunter 
had seen Mrs. Merriweather, but at such a distance that speech with 
her was out of the question, even had he sought it. But she had seen 
him and looked long and meaningly at him, and he could not but know 
it. For some reason Merriweather saw fit to hide the facts connected 
with his absence from tattoo that night, and, so long as no one in 
authority questioned, it was not Hunter’s province to explain. 

Keeping vigilant lookout on every side as he paced up and down, 
the soldier gave his thoughts free rein. He was glad to be alone to 
think and plan. There was no glamour about soldiering as he had 
found it, and it was useless denying even to himself that he would 
gladly have recalled his rash enlistment, but, that being impossible, 
grit and pride asserted themselves and bade him stand to his guns and 
give no sign. Barring the inquisitive proddings of the men, he had 
had no active annoyances after the first few days. Would-be tormentors 
respected a man who was so free with his fists — and his money. His 
officers, except Main waring, had treated him with grave and distant 
courtesy, for of Brady he had seen nothing at all until this day. News 
from home and abroad he had had none and wanted none. It was his 
purpose to shut himself out from the old world for good and all. 
Parents he had lost in early boyhood. Brothers and sisters he had 
none. Sweethearts — two. One, — the first, — his senior by at least four 
years, and now a staid wife and mother. The second might or might 
not be wearing a coronet by this time. His Grace of Lancaster was 
on his last legs, and his eldest hope. Lord Lunemouth, on his last 
lung, when Gray left Switzerland in April. That ^^Amy, shallow- 
hearted,” had wedded Rokeby by this time was possible, if not probable. 
There were New York papers in the post library, but Hunter had seen 


RAT^S RECRUIT. 


507 


none, would see none. In his stern renunciation of the world, the flesn, 
and the devil of his old life, Trooper Hunter would admit no interest 
in the doings of Gotham. The one thing that bound him to the old 
life was the knowledge that, up to October at least, his fond old uncle 
was still in the land of the living. A stroke of some kind had pros- 
trated him before Gray’s return from abroad. Physicians had pre- 
scribed a long sea-voyage. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Hunter had sailed 
for North Cape, had gone thence to some German spa. His health was 
shattered, his mind almost a blank. She was still in the prime of life. 
He, said the last news Darcy had of him before starting for the wide 
West, hardly recognized his attendants. She bore her sorrows with 
the patient resignation of the Christian who knows there’s life for her 
beyond the grave — of a departed husband. 

Of the remnant of his fortune Gray had still a few thousand dollars 
banked where it would be safe until sorely needed. Under an humble 
roof within the limits of Butte were stored certain trunks containing 
civilian clothing and things he valued. Here at barracks he had only 
his soldier outfit of uniform, with the addition of better underwear 
and shoes than were issued by Uncle Sam. One poor fellow and his 
suffering wife, at least, were the better for the strange coming of this 
eccentric : the starving tramp who boarded the train that night at 
Willow Springs had now a roof over his head and hers, and food, fire, 
and clothing. She was sufficiently recovered to take in washing, for 
Chinamen were unpopular if not unprofitable servants just then in 
Wyoming, and he, the starveling of that night on the train, was once 
more a carpenter, his tools out of pawn and he no longer out of work. 
That man’s actual misery and suffering, all for the lack of a few dollars, 
no more than he. Hunter Gray, had been accustomed to throw away 
on cigars or sundries in the course of a month, had opened the eyes 
of the world-weary traveller and given him food for thought and spur 
to action. 

One anxiety had oppressed him since his voluntary entrance upon 
the task of training Stella, a duty which need have occupied but a few 
days had it not been for that untoward mishap. She fought shy of 
the bar for several lessons thereafter, connecting it and the flapping 
blanket unerringly with her violent fall. Hunter’s anxiety was that 
any afternoon when so occupied he might find Mrs. Mainwaring and 
her niece among the lookers-on, and he shrank from recognition. He 
had even sought to get his captain to change the hour to morning, but 
there had been fine, open weather, and Atherton lost no opportunities 
for battalion drills. Hunter took to these, despite the crowding and 
squeezing when in line, like a duck to the water, but all the same he 
would have preferred giving Stella her lesson when he knew Miss 
Leroy to be engaged at the hospital, for the fame of that benevolent 
young lady’s work had spread throughout the barracks as well as the 
quarters. 

And it was of her and that odd introduction he was thinking now, 
as he briskly tramped up and down, peering among the hay-stacks and 
stables. Just before the midnight call his post had been visited by the 
sergeant of the guard, who inquired as to his orders and bade him look 


508 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


out any moment for Captain Blake or Lieutenant Brady. The mid- 
night call of the sentries went round in rather slipshod fashion, thanks 
to the wind, but no sooner had Hunter shouted the prolonged ‘‘ AlFs 
welP than he wished he could recall it. Not a suspicious sight or 
sound had he noted after the sergeant went his way, but now, before 
he could realize or dodge, something came spinning through mid-air, 
over his head, settled down on his shoulders with a jerk ; then a blanket 
was whirled about his face, and, with his breath fairly choked out 
of him, with only time for one startled, stifled cry, the loop of a lariat 
was suddenly drawn taut, hurling him violently to the frozen ground, 
and in another second two or three men had thrown themselves furi- 
ously upon him. Despite mad struggles, he was bound, gagged, and 
kicked behind the hay-stack. His carbine was whisked away. He lay 
there helpless and half strangled, but they had removed the blanket, 
so that he at least could breathe and see. And then from beyond the 
stable of his troop came two more men with a cart. Into this was 
swiftly loaded box after box of some weighty substance, the boxes being 
dragged from underneath the very stack that had caused the colonel’s 
censure, — the stack that interposed between Ray’s stable and the little 
domicile of Sergeant Merriweather under the low bluff. Loaded with 
all it could safely carry, the cart was swiftly trundled off into the 
darkness, three burly forms propelling, two remaining close at hand. 
Not a word was spoken that Hunter could hear. The cart came back 
for another load in less than five minutes, and this time, in addition to 
heavy little boxes which he could almost swear contained ammunition 
and, possibly, revolvers, they dragged sacks of oats from underneath 
the stack, and loaded them too upon the cart. Three trips were made 
in all, then every man vanished and he was utterly alone. 

Raging at his plight, powerless to help himself in any way, and 
suffering not a little from the sharpness of his cords and the brutal 
manner in which he had been gagged, Hunter managed to keep cool 
and think. At the utmost he probably would not be left there more 
than twenty minutes. When the call was passed at twelve-thirty his 
voice would be missed ; the corporal w^ould have to come down, and, 
not finding him on his post, would institute search ; then he would be 
released and could tell his story. 

Even as he lay there he could swear he heard the sound as of hoofs 
and heavy-laden wheels crashing through the ice on the little shallow 
stream beyond the stables. Presently the bitter cold of the frozen 
ground seemed to penetrate through his heavy clothing, and he began 
to suffer keenly. The wind blew but lightly where he lay in the lee 
of the stack, and, though he knew it was not time for the sentries to call 
off*, he strained his ears to catch the sound of footfalls, — Blake or 
Brady, — and the sergeant, too, might be along again. He prayed in- 
deed they might be, for robbery had been committed before his very 
eyes. He had heard rumors of the disappearance of forage. He had 
heard the men talk of the exposed situation of the brick magazine out 
there on the prairie, southeast of the post. Only on bright moonlit 
nights could the sentry see it from the east gate, while from the south 
gate it was hidden entirely. He knew that most of the ammunition, 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


509 


pistol, carbine, and cannon, was kept there, and at one time quite a lot 
of small-arms. The ordnance sergeant slept in the garrison, his keys 
in a strong box under his bed, yet thieves had plundered both the 
magazine and the stables, and hidden their booty underneath the big 
hay-stack, awaiting opportunity to run it away to some reliable customer 
in town. That they were members of the garrison was evident from 
that very fact. Townsfolk would have come with wagons in the first 
place. 

Fifteen minutes at least had he still to wait and suffer, possibly 
more, if no officer of the guard chanced to inspect right after twelve, 
or if the corporal should be slow running to ascertain why the twelve- 
thirty call was not repeated. Fifteen minutes, and already he was 
enduring torment. Then came sudden hope, — the sound of a swift, 
light footfall, — then a woman^s voice. 

‘‘ Dan ! Danny ! where are you ? Come home quick, for God^s 
sake. TheyTe hunting for you now.’^ 

No answer. 

Again the plaintive cry was repeated. A woman^s slender form 
sped swiftly by, turned the corner of the huge stack, and then, as 
though recoiling at sight of danger, darted back, shuddering, stumbled 
over his prostrate body, and only with difficulty saved itself from 
falling. Quick as thought the woman whirled upon him, one half- 
stifled, nervous cry escaping from her lips. 

Scully, you beast! Why are you lying there? You are not 
drunk. The liquor he gave you wouldn^t do this. Where’s he gone ? 
Answer, I say. Ah-h !” And the cold hands that had seized and 
shaken him fell away in fright at touch of the gag. Quickly she re- 
covered herself, fumbled in her pocket, found a pair of scissors, and 
slashed the bands that were strangling him. What fool work is 
this ?” she whimpered. Sure Dan shouldn’t have gagged you, Scully. 
Who was with him? Who did it? Answer,” she implored, shaking 
him vehemently. Get up, Scully, quick ! For the love of God find 
him ! They’ve been to the house already — the guard. Somebody’s 

peached. Somebody Who tied this lariat? It’s knotted like 

Wait till I get a knife. Lie still, Scully.” And away she sped, 
leaving him to wonder, bound as he was, how he could lie otherwise. 
She was back in a moment, panting, breathless. She sawed at the 
thick cordage until it snapped, then stared wildly one instant as the 
tall figure straightened up, then with a cry of horror started back. 

Scully — No! What? — you? Hunter? Oh, blessed saints, have 
mercy !” 

But the instant he was released and had gained his feet, unarmed 
though he was and half numbed, the tall, athletic soldier sprang away 
into the darkness and ran like a deer across the open space and on past 
the stables towards the stream, shouting as he ran at the full strength 
of his powerful lungs, Corporal of the guard. Number 6 ! Corporal 
of the guard. Number 6 !” 

Out on the low bank across the narrow stream he could see, out- 
lined against the sky, two dark, shadowy figures go scurrying swiftly 
by, running from the direction of the old magazine. It stood only a 


510 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


few yards beyond the crest. Again he set up his powerful shout, 
‘^Corporal of the guard, Number 6!’^ and away oft’ to the northeast, 
although farther than himself from the guard-house, Duffy on No. 6 at 
the east gate, sure that something was dreadfully amiss, was repeating 
the cry. Hardly knowing what he should do if he overtook them. 
Hunter dashed into the shallow stream, in hopes of reaching the oppo- 
site bank and overhauling the marauders, but the broken, slippery ice 
trapped and threw him again. Down he went splash into the chilling 
waters ; up he scrambled, only to slip and go down a second time ; 
then staggered to his feet, breathless, almost exhausted now; tumbled 
up the opposite bank; clambered on all-fours to the crest; gazed hur- 
riedly about in search of friend or foe ; peered into the darkness to the 
south and southwest, but the runners had disappeared ; then gazed to tlie 
east and sprang to his feet, startled. Not twenty yards away loomed 
the black bulk of the old brick magazine, and, hissing and sputtering, a 
fiery serpent seemed dancing in front. It bounded to the door-way, 
now in the ruddy light dimly seen to be open, disappeared within a 
little cloud of sulphur smoke, and then the heavens lit up with an 
awful glare ; he felt himself hurled violently backward ; for one instant 
he seemed to see a million stars criss-crossing through the skies; his 
ears were stunned and deafened by a thunderous roar; the air was 
filled with flying bricks and beams and sheets of flame that scorched 
and seared and blinded him. Then something crashed upon his skull, 
and he toppled over the bank and went plunging down to the icy flood 
beneath. 


CHAPTER XI. 

November had given way to a still more wintry month, and De- 
cember, cold, clear, snow-white, and sparkling, chained the streams in 
icy fetters and spread abroad its fleecy blanket. The holidays were 
drawing nigh, and garrison children were revelling in hope and 
whispered rumors of the great times to come. There was to be a 
Christmas-tree in the post hall, with presents for all the little ones. 
Miss Leroy was managing everything, and what Miss Leroy under- 
took went with a dash. The afternoons now were given up to all 
manner of sewing and stitching and contriving, dressing dolls and 
filling cornucopias and parcelling out gifts so that no child should be 
overlooked or forgotten, but never once did Miss Leroy neglect her 
morning Bible class, for such it had become, and into the fold were 
gladly drawn, not only convalescent patients in hospital, but volunteers 
from barracks and quarters who had no bodily ills, but who rejoiced in 
souls in need of saving. Ransom had no chaplain in those days, or 
sectarian piety might have taken alarm at the rapid increase in Miss 
Leroy’s weekday Sunday-school. Two of the most devout and regular 
attendants of late were Sergeant and Mrs. Merri weather. Drills were 
suspended, it being now too cold and snowy, and Miss Leroy’s hospital 
services began regularly at ten. She would enter, bright, smiling, 
happy-faced, go at once to her little desk, and open the balk Now, 


RAY’S RECRUIT, 


511 


the Scriptures came first, — there was no longer doubt as to the main 
object of her charitable enterprise, — but when the lessons of the day 
were disposed of, and a brief sermon read from the collection of some 
famous divine, the barrack squad and Sudstown people would retire, 
and she could then devote another hour to lighter reading for the 
benefit of her patients exclusively, some of whom were still in the 
ward with the graver cases. 

And among these latter, with bandaged eyes and burned and 
blistered face and hands, an unrecognizable bundle of bandages, lay 
Trooper Hunter, over whose head, unseen, unknown, there was hanging 
a sword. 

For some days and nights concussion of the brain was feared. 
The magazine had been blown into a thousand fragments, and how 
many of these, beams or bricks, had felled him, no one ever knew. 
He was hauled out of the stream, feet first, like poor Pat Shea, bleed- 
ing, burned, and senseless. He began to mend in a few days, however, 
and by the 8th of December was occasionally sitting up in an invalid 
chair, his eyes and cheeks still under cover. But from the time his 
convalescence began, Trooper Hunter had spent two hours each morning 
listening to the voice of the charmer who charmed so wisely, and there 
came a day when she bent over his couch and laid her cool soft white 
hand on his forehead and asked him if there were nothing she could 
do, no friends or relatives to whom he would like her to write, and he 
murmured that he couldn’t think of any just then, but might if she’d 
come again to ask him on the morrow. She came, and on the next 
and the next day, too, marvelling not a little at the voice, the intelli- 
gence, the language, of this particular patient. She strove to study his 
features, but without success, for when the doctor thought to remove 
the bandages the patient declared the morning light was altogether too 
much for his weakened eyes. He would be bandaged in the morning, 
though the afternoon sunshine was really more brilliant, and he didn’t 
seem to mind it then. Miss Leroy took to sitting by Hunter’s bedside 
as much as ten minutes at first ; then the ten began to lengthen to 
fifteen and even twenty, and other patients waxed impatient and said 
things about Hunter and thought things about her that proved how 
jealous is the human heart, even when it beats beneath a flannel shirt. 
The surgeon said Hunter could soon return to his troop, as far as his 
health was concerned, but there were reasons to fear his health might 
suffer after he got there, for Major Mainwaring, now in temporary 
command of the post, was making frequent and impetuous inquiries. 
Colonel and Mrs. Atherton had gone East on two months’ leave; 
Major and Mrs. Stannard had gone to Russell for a fortnight to visit 
old friends in another regiment; and here, to his huge delight, was 
Mainwaring in command of an eight-company post. Then the surgeon 
asked why Mainwaring was so anxious to have the patient out, and 
learned something that proved a painful shock. 

‘^Well, major,” said he, after a solemn silence, of course you’re 
commanding officer, but I find it mighty hard to believe that story, 
and I protest against its being made known to him until he is strong 
enough to bear it,— which he isn’t now.” 


512 


RAY’S RECRUIT. 


There had been much talk at the hospital, among the stewards and 
attendants and patients who could talk at all, as to the result of the 
board of survey promptly convened at Colonel Atherton’s request to 
ascertain the cause of the mysterious explosion which had wrecked the 
magazine and ruined its contents, and it did not take long for such 
keen scouts and trailers as Ray, Blake, and old Wilkins to make up 
their minds. Coupled with what had occurred at the south gate that 
night, just a little while before the explosion, there was no doubt that 
an extensive robbery had taken place and that the object of the destruc- 
tion of the magazine was the obliteration with it of evidences of the 
crime. 

It seemed that shortly before eleven-thirty that night two veteran 
sergeants of Truscott’s troop, returning from Butte on pass, became 
aware of a wagon driving ahead of them as they left town and soon 
disappearing out on the prairie east of the road. Now there was not 
a ranch or house to which it could have gone ; everything of that kind 
lay farther down the stream, where it swept in bold curve, first to the 
south, then eastward again. Rumors of forage-stealing they had heard, 
and therefore decided to find where the wagon went, but after searching 
awhile in the gale and the darkness they gave it up, yet warned the 
sergeant of the guard as they alighted at the south gate, and their hack- 
driver returned with his rig to town. Captain Blake was notified, and 
a patrol was ordered out to scour the right bank of the little stream 
that flowed back of the stables. They hadn’t gone fifty yards before 
they stirred up a squad of troopers that scattered at their approach, 
but one was captured, — Ray’s rapscallion of a trumpeter the Kid,” 
— and the Kid refused flatly and characteristically to say who the 
others were. A privileged character was the Kid. He had been ten 
years or more in the regiment, and ten dozen times in scrapes. A 
better little soldier on campaign or a worse one in garrison couldn’t be 
found in all the — th, and as the regiment had spent more of those ten 
years in the field than in the fort, the Kid had still a small balance to 
his credit. He had a medal of honor from Congress for heroism in 
fierce, savage battle, and a record for deviltry of every conceivable kind. 
Ray was the only man, except Atherton, he either feared or loved. 
Grinning from ear to ear, he told Blake that there wasn’t any officer in 
the regiment smart enough to scare him into giving away a fellow- 
soldier, and Blake sent for Ray. Something told him there was mis- 
chief afoot, and Ray and the explosion came almost together. 

Only two men in all Fort Ransom, however, were found to have 
anything to explain as to their whereabouts that night ; first. Sergeant 
Merri weather, whom the sergeant of the guard had inquired for just 
after visiting sentries, and solely because a light was burning so late in 
his window. The second was the new trooper. Hunter, found nearly 
three hundred yards away from his proper post, blinded, senseless, 
bleeding, and half drowned. The Kid had told the plausible tale 
that ‘^him and three other fellers was sneaking off to town for a lark” 
when detected. Merriweather declared that he had heard horses 
stamping and snorting in the stables, and had considered it his duty, 
though no longer stable sergeant, to go and investigate, and that he 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


513 


saw no sentry on No. 6, but hunted up and down for him, wondering 
where he could be, and was so occupied when the explosion occurred. 
But Hunter had not yet been approached. There were reasons why it 
was deemed best to let him suppose no suspicion attached to him. 

For, no sooner was it light enough to see, the morning after the ex- 
plosion, than Atherton had some of his best officers scouring the prairie 
for traces. They found bricks, bullets, and unexploded boxes of car- 
tridges all over the neighborhood, but not one of the forty revolvers 
and only twenty of the eighty boxes of carbine, rifle, and revolver 
cartridges that should have been there. Of the barrel of rifle powder 
and half-barrel of cannon cartridges not a vestige, of course, remained. 
All this was brought out by the board, and, the board’s findings having 
been sent to Department head-quarters, Atherton, as has been said, 
had gone off on leave ; so had Stannard, and this left Mainwaring in 
command. 

Not a word, not a hint to that fellow until I tell you,” said 
Mainwaring to the post surgeon, who, an older man and a major senior 
in rank by several years, was nevertheless his inferior in the eyes of 
military law and regulation, he being debarred from assuming com- 
mand. And so, as Hunter grew stronger every day and watched with 
eagerness for the coming each morning of the young devotee, there 
dawned upon him no ray of suspicion of the toils that were surrounding 
him, for Miss Leroy, who used to talk at home of her pupil patients, 
had become silent as to one at least, and uncommunicative as to all, 
for Mrs. Mainwaring of late had expressed her disapprobation in no 
measured terms, and there was no longer that sweet accord which 
should obtain between aunt and niece. 

One bright morning the doctor bade Hunter lay aside the shrouding 
bandages entirely and wear only a green shade over the eyes. Orders 
were orders, but when Miss Leroy entered and as usual spoke to him, 
a dainty handkerchief was pressed to his face. The light, he said, was 
still too dazzling. 

But you are much better,” said she, in her clear tones. The 
doctor says you can soon return to light duty, probably before 
Christmas.” 

Then as she took her seat to read, her side face towards him, he 
slipped the kerchief a little to one side that he might gaze undisturbed. 

The men had asked that she should give fifteen minutes at least to 
the leading events of the day, and a Chicago paper was selected for 
their edification. From this she chose such items as she thought might 
prove of interest, and to these Hunter listened, in spite of himself. 
First she read of the political news ; then the doings of great dignita- 
ries, foreign and domestic ; and then came accidents by flood and field, 
and another railway hold-up on a small scale. To all these he lent 
but languid ear. He was watching with eager eyes the movements 
of those soft, sensitive, curved red lips. He hardly paid even faint 
attention to what she was saying, until something in the names struck 
him as familiar. All the foremost part of the paragraph had passed 
unheard, unheeded, but now, now only by strong effort could he restrain 
himself from sitting bolt upright in bed and reaching out and seizing 

VoL. LIX.— 33 


514 


RAY’S RECRUIT. 


the paper and reading for himself ; for what she read, when once again 
he became conscious of her words, was this : 

The overturned yacht now lies in forty feet of water, her taper 
masts and upper rigging all that remain visible. Mr. Hunter is doing 
well, carefully attended by Dr. Lambert at the Hotel des Ambassa- 
deurs. The bodies of Mrs. Hunter and her unfortunate friends will 
doubtless be recovered this morning. The ladies were caught in the 
cabin when the Amorita was struck, and escape was impossible. She 
went to the bottom like a shot. English and American residents are 
in deep grief. The ball-room at the Casino last night was almost de- 
serted. Many New York and Philadelphia families are at Nice for 
the winter, and the tragic fate of Mrs. Hunter has cast a gloom over 
the community. Mr. Hunter had greatly improved in health, but it 
is feared this bereavement may again prostrate him. They have no 
children.^^ 

The Amorita ? That yacht was owned by a wealthy English ad- 
mirer of his uncle’s wife. For more reasons than one, Hunter Gray 
had never fancied him, and even his easy-going uncle seemed to hold 
aloof. But Mrs. Hunter, so much her husband’s junior in years, 
loved society, adored yachting, and what was more necessary for her 
beloved invalid’s recovery than the soft sea-breezes of the Eiviera and 
the idyllic dolce far niente days and nights under those incomparable 
Mediterranean skies and on the Amorita’s dainty deck ? There was a 
late supper going on one joyous night aboard, just as she was coming 
in from a day’s dancing over the blue waters. There was misunder- 
standing between her skipper and that of a steamer over the right of 
way, — signals, or God knows what, — for when the Amorita rounded to 
the cruel black prow struck her amidships and ground her underneath 
the iron keel. Through the devotion of the crew Mr. Hunter and one 
or two friends with him were rescued. They were on deck. But 
nothing could save the hapless banqueters still below. Darcy Hunter 
had survived the wreck of his business, the wreck of the Amorita, — 
had survived even his young, light-hearted wife, with whose remains, 
said the paper, he would return to America at once. 


CHAPTER XII. 

That evening when the surgeon was making his visit to the hos- 
pital the steward told him Trooper Hunter desired to speak with him, 
and, halting somewhat in his gait and looking very pallid still, but 
otherwise little the worse for wear, the tall soldier was ushered into 
the dispensary. 

The junior medical officer, for reasons the senior could not quite 
fathom, had on several occasions recently asked the senior if he did 
not think Hunter fit to return to light duty, and gave his opinion that 
he was getting soft and lazy there. The post surgeon, for reasons the 
junior could not fathom at all, replied that he thought it might be 
several days before he should permit Hunter to return to his troop. 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


515 


This in no wise added to Jayne’s good will towards his gentlemanly 
and attractive patient. Hunter was fortunate in having won the sym- 
pathy of the senior. To-night he won something more. 

Standing bolt upright at the door, he said, — 

May I speak one moment with the colonel, in private ?” 

The surgeon almost blushed as he whirled towards the speaker. 
All through the war of the rebellion he had served, a gallant, skilful, 
devoted officer, ever seeking duty at the front, ever ready night or day 
to brave peril, hardship, or fatigue to go with his regiment into action. 
Time and again he had dashed with them into battle. More than once 
he had cheered them in headlong charge until recalled to himself and 
duties that bade him sheathe the sword for the scalpel. Scorning to 
leave his wounded, he had fallen with them into the hands of the 
enemy and had starved with them at Andersonville. Once he had 
been seriously wounded as he knelt beside a stricken comrade on the 
battle-line. Twice he had been offered hospital duty at Annapolis and 
Washington, and declined. From one end of the war to the other he 
had been known among the men as the fighting doctor, and the fame 
had followed him to the far frontier, where in one long and fierce 
campaign against the Sioux he had spared himself no hardship that 
the humblest soldier had to endure; and the cavalry swore by him, ay, 
and the lithe, sinewy, hard-marching, hard-fighting doughboys too, 
and loved him for the love he bore them. With all he was a student 
of his trade and gloried in it, but most he gloried that he was a soldier. 
He looked it, lived it, deserved it and everything the name implied ; 
but he had one weakness, if weakness honest glory in one’s profession 
could be called. I’ve been a soldier twenty years of my life. I’ve 
won the brevets of major and lieutenant-colonel on the battle-field and 
colonel for the war, but never have I been called or can I look to be 
called anything but doctor. Here are your paymasters, commissaries, 
quartermasters, — fellows that never heard a hostile bullet whistle or 
saw the smoke of battle, — lots of ’em ; you call them captain or major, 
as though they were soldiers, but you snub, by God ! the one staff 
corps that never leaves the fighting-line when the fighting begins.” 

Now, the surgeon had come but lately to Ransom. He had served 
but a few weeks with the — th, yet Truscott and Ray had discovered 
his sensitiveness and gladly hailed him as colonel. Blake promptly 
followed suit; but when Mainwaring heard it, Mainwaring bristled. 

What right’s a d — d doctor to expect to be called anything but 
doctor?” he asked, explosively, and he no more meant to be offensive, 
or thought he could be considered offensive, in his language than did 
the doctor in claiming recognition as a soldier. And then, as Main- 
waring prided himself on never saying behind a fellow’s back what 
he wouldn’t say to his face,” — and the Lord only knew what he hadn’t 
said to people’s faces, — what did the major do, only that very day, but, 
in attempted jocularity, pitch into the post surgeon at the morning 
gathering of the officers and try to chaff him about wanting to be 
called colonel ! It stung the honest old soldier-surgeon to the quick. 
It hurt him sore, and he left the room disgusted. 

And so, when from the lips of this tall trooper came the title he 


516 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


valued, the post surgeon fairly blushed, for he had been thinking 
intently over the events of the morning, and, if the truth must be 
told, was wondering how he could get square with Major Main waring, 
and here was a possible opportunity. 

Obedient to his superior’s nod, the hospital steward went out, 
closing the door behind him. 

What is it. Hunter?” asked the surgeon, kindly. 

I have come to ask, sir, if it would be possible for me to return 
to my troop to-night, and if the colonel could aid me in any way to 
get a furlough of twenty or thirty days.” 

Colonel Connell looked up, perplexed, even troubled. Both re- 
quests were unusual from old soldiers, and never heard of from re- 
cruits. 

I fear not. Hunter. You see, there are reasons why you ought 
not to attempt to return to duty yet ; and what can you allege as reason 
for a furlough so soon after enlistment?” 

Urgent personal affairs, sir,” was the answer, a half-smile twitch- 
ing at the corners of the handsome mouth. ^^Even a trooper may 
have them, you know.” 

Hunter,” said the surgeon, after a moment’s pause, be advised 
by me. Don’t think of going back to duty for two or three days yet, 
and don’t let any one know you wish to leave Eansom on any account, 
just now.” 

For a moment there was silence. The soldier still remained re- 
spectfully at attention, standing close to the door. The surgeon had 
spoken impressively, earnestly, significantly, and Hunter could not but 
notice it, could not but realize that behind it there was some urgent 
meaning or reason, yet he persisted. 

I hope the colonel will pardon me,” he said. I will not refer 
to the furlough again until 1 can explain more fully, which will be 
possible after I have talked with Captain Ray ; but as to returning to 
the troop I beg that I may not be detained here through — another 
morning.” 

The surgeon was seated in a wicker-bottom office chair, which he 
twisted round and so squarely faced his visitor, looking keenly yet not 
unkindly into the pale, handsome face. It was a moment before he 
spoke. 

thought you greatly appreciated those morning readings,” said 
he, at last. I’m sure the young lady has done very much to make 
hospital life bearable.” 

It was Hunter’s turn to color, but before he could speak he had 
to spring aside. Into the outer hall came banging a burly form 
enwrapped in cavalry circular. Where’s Dr. Connell ?” brusquely 
demanded a loud, unmodulated voice, then slap-bang, with all his 
characteristic impetuosity, Mainwaring burst into the room. 

• Direct as ever, never noting or caring who was present, he went 
straight to the point. Hullo, doc!” said he, loud, gruff, yet hearty. 

Just the man I’m looking for. Say, Truscott tells me I hurt your 
feelings this morning, and I’ve come to ’pologize. I didn’t mean a 
d — d thing. It’s all right. If you want to be called colonel, why. 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 517 

colonel it shall be. I’ll issue orders calling the attention of the whole 
command to it, if you like.” 

And then for the first time he became aware of the tall soldier, 
now trying to slip quietly behind him so as to leave the room. Main- 
waring whirled on him in a trice. Hullo, you’re up again, are you? 
— Well, this man’s able to answer for himself now, I see, doc — er — 
colonel ?” 

But the post surgeon had risen from his chair and held up a hand 
appealingly. 

He is still a patient under my charge, sir, and is not restored to 
health or duty as yet. I protest ” 

Oh, you needn’t protest. I’m done for the present. I’m giving 
way to everybody this evening, all on your account.” Here the sur- 
geon signalled significantly to the soldier, and, silently, wonderingly. 
Hunter withdrew. ^^’Tisn’t only Truscott. My wife’s jumped on 
me with both feet ; says I’ve insulted you, — done nothing but make 
enemies ever since I came into the — th. Why, I’ve been catching it 
right and left, doc — colonel ; haven’t had a moment’s peace. What 
d’ye think that dash-dashed long-legged lath of a man Blake says to 
me, not an hour ago, begad? I asked him if he thought you had any 
right to feel offended, and he said if you didn’t it was only because 
everybody agreed that no notice was to be taken of anything I ever 
said. I never know whether he’s in earnest or joking. If I thought 
he meant what he said, by God, he’d be in arrest this minute.” 

Again the post surgeon held up a warning hand. Pray do not 
speak quite so loud, Mainwaring,” said he. Some of my patients 
are trying to sleep. I beg you will think no more of this morning’s 
incident. What you have said is more than sufficient. I am possibly 
hypersensitive.” 

And then it was the doctor’s turn to be abruptly silenced. For a 
second time the outer door was hurriedly opened, silvery voices and soft 
laughter were heard in the corridor, and then, marshalled by Blake, 
there at the entrance stood Mrs. Mainwaring, and behind her, silent 
and a trifle pale and anxious-looking, Kate Leroy. 

I knew he’d be coming right over here,” laughed Mrs. Main- 
waring. But, really. Colonel Connell, my husband is even more 
impetuous in rushing to make amends than he is in treading on people’s 
tender spots. — No, don’t go wandering off to the wards, Kate,” she cried, 
for Miss Leroy looked anxiously up the corridor and showed a tendency 
to follow her eyes. Come now, major, if you have finished what you 
were saying to the colonel, we want you to come home. Indeed,” she 
persisted, as she saw how angrily his eyes were regarding Blake, 
you’ve got to come and make your peace with us now, for you were 
simply unbearable all through dinner, and we had to ask Captain 
Blake to escort us in search of you.” Then, as Mainwaring still held 
back as though striving to speak, she seized his arm. Come. Indeed,” 
lowering her voice, I must speak with you before you go any further 
in that case.” And then did Connell feel sure she spoke of Hunter. 

An instant later he was surer still, for in came an attendant, alarm 
on his face. 


518 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


Did the post surgeon give Hunter permission to leave hospital ? 
He’s picked up his coat and gone, sir.” 

Outside the moon was shining brightly on the glistening snow. 
Objects were plainly visible over one hundred yards away. Main- 
waring sprang to the door with excitement in his eyes and flew to the 
porch, the otliers following, in every stage of astonishment. Outside 
the gate, as luck would have it, was marching a relief of the guard, the 
men swinging rapidly by in their heavy winter dress, the carbine butts 
grasped in their fur-gloved hands, the gleaming barrels tossed over the 
shoulder. Over towards the trader’s store a tall, slender form in sol- 
dier’s overcoat was rapidly striding. Mainwaring’s voice rang out with 
the force and volume of a trombone. ‘^Halt your relief, corporal! 
Catch that man over yonder, quick, and bring him here.” 

Astonished, the corporal obeyed. Relief, halt !” he ordered. 

Come with me, two of you.” Then away he rushed. Halt ! Halt, 
you !” were the next shouts, and all in a moment they had overhauled 
the offending soldier. There was brief parley, and then back they 
came, the unresisting prisoner between the two members of the guard. 

Oh,” almost whimpered Mrs. Mainwaring, do hear Captain 

Blake first. He’s sure there’s some mistake ” then broke off short 

with exclamation of amaze. From the lips of Kate Leroy, too, there 
burst a stifled cry, for there before them, his clear-cut, refined face per- 
fectly outlined in the brilliant moonlight, — there, clad in the rough 
garb of a private soldier, stood the courteous, helpful, distinguished- 
looking stranger of the night of the collision. 

Mainwaring must have had a love for the dramatic. 

Corporal Rice,” said he, deliberately, take Trooper Hunter to 
the guard-house and confine him by my order on the charge of con- 
niving at the robbery and destruction of the magazine.” 


CHAPTER XIII. 

In the forty-eight hours that followed the arrest and incarceration 
of Trooper Hunter one excitement chased another with such rapidity 
that it was hard to keep track of them, and Mainwaring, with almost 
a sigh of relief, welcomed the premature return of old Stannard, to 
whom somebody (believed to be Ray) had given the tip by telegraph 
that the sooner he got back the better. 

Take this infernal regiment and see what you can do with it,” 
said Mainwaring, despairingly. I thought I knew something about 
soldiering, but there’s too d — d much individuality in the — th for 
me.” 

And, beside Trooper Hunter’s incarceration on the charge of aiding 
and abetting in the robbery and destruction of the magazine, the senior 
major had the following matters now to tackle : Captain Blake, in 
arrest for using insubordinate language to the commanding officer (^^said 
that compared with my mental condition the magazine wasn’t a cir- 
cumstance in the way of a wreck, begad,” explained Mainwaring to his 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


519 


senior, who strove to keep a straight face, but couldn’t) ; Mrs. Merri- 
weather, disappeared since the night of Hunter’s transfer from hospital 
to guard-house ; Sergeant Merriweather, transferred from guard-house 
to hospital with a bullet through one lung and a knife-wound in the 
other ; Corporal Croxford and Trooper Elzey, deserted, — two hitherto 
shining lights of the garrison and admirers of Mrs. Merriweather 
(could Mrs. Merriweather have gone with either of them ? asked some 
of the ladies, or with both ? asked certain brutes among the oflScers) ; 
and, finally, Lieutenant Brady, back from a bacchanalian bout with his 
kindred spirit Rawson, and now laid by the heels in quarters with an 
Irish orderly in attendance, for doctors would have nothing to do with 
him. 

The way Stannard sailed in was characteristic. Brady had not 
been drunk on duty. He had taken advantage of the absence of 
Atherton and Stannard to relax the reins of his self-control, but had 
only got a real good start when he sought and received a seven days’ 
leave from Major Mainwaring, which enabled him to meet Rawson at 
Pawnee. This was about ten days after the explosion. He was to 
have stayed his week away, but in two days suddenly reappeared in 
Butte, full of whiskey and information. Mainwaring, who knew him 
but slightly, received a despatch saying that he had news of most im- 
portant character resulting from discoveries 'he had made at Pawnee, 
and urging the commanding officer to meet him at the railway station 
on his arrival, which Mainwaring did, and then the very next night 
ordered Hunter’s arrest. 

I always said that when Brady drank he could be depended upon 
to make an ass of himself,” said Blake, ^^and this proves it.” But 
what Brady’s revelations might have been Mainwaring refused to dis- 
close. It was enough, he said, to hang Hunter high as the hay man, 
and the hay-contractor, in Mainwaring’s opinion, was the double- 
dashedest scoundrel that ever lived. This statement so rejoiced Blake’s 
heart that he repeated it broadcast, and was in the merriest of moods, 
until he heard that Mainwaring had forbidden Captain Ray’s having 
an interview with his imprisoned recruit. Then Blake boiled over and 
made the odious comparison between Mainwaring’s brain and the 
blown-up building which resulted in his own summary confinement to 
quarters. Brady’s leave had still two days to run when Stannard got 
back, but Stannard had heard enough of his doings in Butte to war- 
rant the immediate action taken. An officer was sent with the post 
ambulance and orders to fetch him forthwith. Then and there Dana 
waited on him with the major’s message to the effect that he would give 
him twenty-four hours in which to sober up and face the music, and 
Brady had sense enough to know he had no time to lose. 

Then another snarl had to be disentangled, in which Stannard could 
not help, since it was purely domestic. The veteran post surgeon had 
had a flare-up with Mainwaring, all on account of Trooper Hunter. 
The doctor protested against his patient’s being put in the guard- 
house, declaring that, no matter what the charges were, he was entitled 
to humane as well as medical treatment. Mainwaring said the man 
of his own volition had removed himself from hospital, and therefore 


520 


RAF’S RECRUIT. 


deserved no consideration. The doctor said if Hunter were kept in 
the prison room with the garrison malefactors over-night he would 
hold Main waring responsible for ill results that were certain to occur, 
which staggered Main waring for a minute. He finally compromised, 
ordered Hunter sent back to hospital, but put in a room by himself 
with a sentry at the door and another at the window, and orders pro- 
hibiting his being seen or spoken to by anybody except the doctors and 
the steward, unless it were himself or on his own written order. 

Then Mainwaring had to go home and face the women-folk, and 
there for the first time (Miss Leroy, shocked and stunned, having gone 
to her room) did Mrs. Mainwaring have him to herself and tell him 
of the identification of Hunter as the polite and helpful stranger of 
the night on the train. Then furthermore did she add her plea to the 
doctor^s, and finally admit that, much to her own distress and conster- 
nation, she feared Pet was actually deeply if not indeed very painfully 
interested in this mysterious trooper. In justice to Pet, she must say 
that that young lady was probably unaware of the feeling that had 
been growing upon her until the denouement of that evening. She, 
Mrs. Mainwaring, had striven to wean her from the morning services, 
but without success, and now she knew not what had happened, for 
Pet had shut herself in her room and begged to be left undisturbed. 

Which was more than Pet’^ would permit the major to be next 
day, however, for she was up and on the lookout for him on his return 
from stables. He marvelled and was shocked at the pallor of her 
face, the trouble in her eyes. Without preliminary remark, she went 
straight to her subject. 

Major Mainwaring, at what time and where may I see Trooper 
Hunter, as you call him, to-day?’’ 

Well — 1, I’m sure I don’t know, Kate;” for the major, like many 
a lion among men, was a lamb among women. I — don’t think you 
— ought to wish to see him.” 

But I do wish it, major. Moreover, I should be ashamed of 
myself if I did not.” And the reply conveyed all the more weight 
because of the calm decision of her manner. 

And so the first written order Mainwaring signed was one to per- 
mit the bearer to visit the prisoner Hunter, and at ten o’clock that 
morning, when, pale, calm, but resolute as ever, and smiling still, 
despite her sleepless night, Miss Leroy entered the hospital for the 
customary reading, she sent the steward to tell Mr. Hunter that she 
hoped he would be able to see her soon after eleven, and then indomi- 
tably went on with her self-appointed task. 

At eleven-fifteen the post surgeon came, silently gave her his arm, 
as they left the big sunshiny ward, and led her to a door-way up the 
corridor in front of which a sentry was pacing, — a sentry who halted 
and presented arms as the doctor opened the door and ushered her in. 

It was that night that Merriweather was brought back from town 
to the guard-house, shot and stabbed as has been said. Mrs. Merri- 
weather had fled during the previous night, and the sergeant had been 
missing since reveille. It was the next night that Stannard returned 
and had Brady hunted up. Then came new labors and honors for 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


521 


SheriflF Conway, and this time there were no troops to divide the 
honors of the capture with him, for his prisoners were deserters all, — 
one from an over-indulgent husband, the others from a not too indul- 
gent Uncle Sam. Pawnee was the Mecca of the fugitives. Thither 
had Mrs. Merriweather fled to a married sister. Thither had Crox- 
ford and Elzey followed, after having remained to cover her retreat 
and settle matters with the sergeant, — which they had done only too 
efiectually, for MerriweathePs days were numbered. 

Two days later Stannard had straightened out affairs at the post in 
marvellous fashion (all save matters domestic, — wherein, said he, no 
wise man meddled), and the man to start him on the right scent was 
that scapegrace the Kid, whom he had disciplined time and again in 
Arizona days and appreciated at his true value. The Kid^s derisive 
and explosive laughter when told that Major Main waring had ordered 
Trooper Hunter confined as accessory to the magazine robbery, etc., 
had been promptly reported to Stannard on his return, and that versa- 
tile young reprobate was sent for, marched to the adjutant’s oflBce, and 
collared by his old-time troop commander, — for one of his several 
enlistments the Kid had spent with Stannard, and knew him well. 

And this was what the Kid divulged. Every one knew he could 
use a lasso like a cowboy, and Croxford had asked him, just for 
deviltry, to join him and ^^some other fellers” in roping the swell, 
Hunter, on the midnight relief; and he was going to, but happened to 
hear that Merriweather was in it, and that set him to thinking. He’d 
heard the women talking about Mrs. Merriweather’s boasting that she 
had made a conquest of the swell recruit, and he remembered Merri- 
weather’s black eye and the rumor that it was Hunter laid him out,” 
and the Kid scented mischief and backed out. Then Croxford came 
and told him it would be best for him to keep his promise, as he might 
get the credit of it anyhow ; which prompted the Kid to tell them all 
to go to Ballyhack. But when Elzey and Hughes later came and 
stumped him” to join them in a spree to town that night, and dis- 
played their money, he forgot Croxford’s threat in the prospect of 
whiskey, and, anything for a frolic, started with them, only to run 
foul of the patrol just across the creek. 

But the moment he heard of Hunter’s being hauled out of the 
stream after the explosion the whole plot dawned on him, and some- 
thing more ; for he remembered the stories of forage and cartridges 
being sold in town, and saw that it was planned to fix the guilt on 
Hunter, and, if not, to fix the crime of the assault on the sacred person 
of a sentry upon himself, the innocent Kid. Then Stannard would 
have cross-questioned the two deserters, for such they were, despite 
stalwart protestations that they were only out for twenty-four hours’ 
fun ; but detectives, ferreting their movements, warned him to make 
no attempt. Merriweather might make an ante-mortem statement, but 
not these men. Neither would Mrs. Merriweather peach.” She was 
in the county jail, begging piteously to be taken to her Danny, and 
declaring he and she were only going to Pawnee to see her sister for a 
day, and he must have been waylaid in town. 

But while Stannard was waiting for Merriweather to regain con- 


522 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


sciousness and Brady to become once more a responsible being, there 
came still another witness, an old carpenter and new citizen of Butte, 
who appeared at Ransom, sorely troubled on account of a friend there 
enlisted whom he hadn^t seen for many a day, — not, in fact, since the 
morning of the train- robbery, — and had just heard of him as having 
been arrested for complicity in the robbery of the magazine. Stan- 
nard heard his story, which was that the accused was a man of means, 
a charitable, kind gentleman who, just for a whim, had come out to 
enlist for a while in the cavalry ; that he had helped him, the carpen- 
ter, to a home and work and his wife to health, and his clothes and 
things were all at his, the ex-tramp carpenter’s, house, and couldn’t he 
see Mr. Hunter? Whereupon Stannard said, ^^Come on,” took him 
to the hospital, and marched into the room where, seated in an easy- 
chair, was the invalid benefactor, and wuth him the old surgeon and 
the young lady. Dr. Jayne, it seems, had suddenly discontinued his 
attentions to both the patient and the nurse. 

It struck Stannard unpleasantly at the time that no one of them 
looked pleased at his coming ; but men are obtuse. A woman would 
have appreciated the impropriety of interruption at a glance. 

And even while they stood there, hesitant, at the door, the steward 
came hurriedly to say that Merri weather was conscious, and had asked 
for his wife and a priest. The two veteran majors, trooper and doctor, 
hastened at once to the greater ward, and Hunter, smiling, held forth 
a long, thin, white hand. 

The ring I left with you would slide off the biggest of these 
fingers now, wouldn’t it?” he asked. — ^^Miss Leroy, this is Mr. Mur- 
ray, now a resident of Butte, but a fellow-passenger with us on the 
night of the collision.” 

Before the sounding of the retreat that night and the boom of the 
sunset gun, Sergeant Merriweather’s soul had drifted away over the 
dreary waste of snow-clad slopes and leagues of prairie, but not before 
he had made clean breast of all his trials, temptations, and downfall. 
His vain, empty-headed, frivolous wife was brought out from Butte, 
but proved scant comfort to his dying hours. To Father Keefe and 
Stannard, Blake and Ray, he told his piteous tale, Kittie snifiling, 
sobbing, wailing at intervals, but ever intently listening. One ex- 
travagance after another had swamped him. He used the money of 
the men’s Athletic and Dramatic Association, of which he was treasurer. 
He stole forage from the stables and sold it to a dealer in Butte to cover 
his shortage, but, that not yielding enough, planned the robbery of the 
magazine, which took place, Croxfbrd and Elzey assisting, one furiously 
stormy night. They worked the old ordnance sergeant with liquor and 
got his keys, took out the boxes of cartridges, revolvers, etc., and, lo ! 
the wagon of their confederates in Butte failed to come. It was beaten 
back by the storm. They then ran everything to the stack nearest 
Merriweatlier’s stable and cottage and hid the plunder underneath. 
Dawn almost surprised them at the task. Luckily, the old sergeant 
was made too sick to go to his magazine for two days. They had 
arranged for the wagon to come out the next night, and then to blow 
up the magazine and so destroy evidence of their guilt, but again there 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


523 


was failure; and Merriweatiier was at his wits^ end when he heard the 
colonel say that stack must be moved on the morrow. Then, rain or 
shine, snow or sleet, the wagon had to come, and then it was found, 
too late to change the hour, that the swell recruit, Hunter, was on the 
very post that guarded the stacks and stables, and would be there at 
the very time tiiey needed to act. So to robbery they were compelled 
to add assault. 

The plunder was safely run off to Butte and paid for at about one- 
fifth its cost and one-tenth its value in a frontier city. They got their 
money, and felt measurably safe so long as Hunter remained in hos- 
pital, used up as a result of the fearful contusions he had received. 
But his wife had told them of her encounter with and revelations to 
Hunter, and their fears of discovery were such that Croxford and 
Elzey determined to desert. The news that Hunter was arrested as 
having guilty knowledge of the whole affair was a thunderbolt. Now 
in self-defence he would have to produce even a woman as witness, 
and that woman Merri weather’s wife. ’Twas Merri weather who bade 
her go at once to Pawnee, whither Croxford and Elzey followed. The 
three men were to meet and divide their spoils in a certain saloon in 
town. The first two demanded more than their share. There was a 
quarrel, then a murderous battle. They took all he had and fled, but, 
with fatuous blundering, had gone to Pawnee to buy her silence, and 
there all three were jailed. Hunter was an innocent man. 

And when this was told to Mainwaring he bellowed, Then what 
in dash-dashnation did Brady mean by his story?” For Brady’s story 
was practically this. 

That he and Eawson occupied a room together over the one fine 
restaurant in Pawnee, and one night they were having supper in one 
box when a party of four railway hands came into that adjoining, 
talking loudly about the engineer of 783, old Jim Long, and the swell 
that engineered the hold-up, — how he had pretended to be out there to 
enlist in the cavalry, how he had tried to ride with and get points from 
Long, and had two or three of his gang on that very train all ready 
for business, but was scared off by the fkct that there was a car-load 
of soldiers. Then when the train-robbery did take place they nabbed 
seven of the followers after a long chase, but never got the leaders at 
all. Why, one of them was right there at the fort this very day, 
enlisted so as to divert suspicion, and he was keeping his hand in by 
engineering other robberies. That magazine explosion they had read 
about was all his doing. 

If Brady had not been addled he could have remembered that 
Hunter had enlisted before the train-robbery took place. But he 
posted back to Butte, gave Mainwaring a wildly exaggerated account 
of what he had heard, vowed he could bring the men with him next 
trip, and Mainwaring, already suspicious, had ordered Hunter’s arrest 
accordingly. 

The fact that Hunter could not have been connected with the robbery 
was pointed out to Mainwaring as they sat in consultation, Stannard, 
Mainwaring, Truscott, and Dana, in the adjutant’s office that night, 
Blake being still in limbo, and Ray being excluded because he had 


524 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


resented Mainwaring’s refusal to allow him an interview with his im- 
prisoned trooper. It was pointed out that Hunter’s enlistment occurred 
some time previous to the train-robbery, and none present happened to 
think of the fact that he had asked for and obtained a pass the very 
night before it happened. Then Brady was sent for, and with him 
came his comrade, still on leave from Winthrop, Mr. Rawson. 

You hear how completely Sergeant Merriweather’s ante-mortem 
statement has cleared Hunter, gentlemen,” said Stannard. ^^Now I 
suppose you are satisfied.” 

^‘As to that point, major, yes,” said Mr. Rawson, with preter- 
natural sang-froid, But I understand you have ordered his release, 
and he is to come here presently for his exoneration. Is that so?” 

^‘Certainly,” growled Stannard. What of it?” 

Well, first I would ask the trooper when he comes to say where 
he was at the time of the robbery of the train.” And Rawson’s face 
beamed with the consciousness of calm conviction of an erring brother’s 
guilt. 

Stannard nodded brusquely. Entirely unnecessary, Mr. Raw- 
son,” said he : that has already been settled. He has witnesses in 
plenty — three, at least, here at the post or in town — to establish where 
he was at that very time. He spent that night and the morning follow- 
ing at the house of one Murray, a carpenter in Butte.” 

Brady and Rawson exchanged glances indicative of incredulity, 
but Rawson then went on : 

In justice to my friend Mr. Brady and myself, I ask that he be 
required then to bring with him the silver-topped flask the steward says 
he has there in his room this very day, and explain where he was the 
morning of the train -robbery, if not with the robbers.” 

Stannard snorted derisively, but sent the order as requested, and 
just as the first call was sounding for tattoo. Trooper Hunter, pallid, 
yet calm and self-possessed, and decidedly prepossessing, was ushered 
in and stood patiently at attention. 

Stannard looked him carefully over, and said, Did you bring that 
flask?” to which the soldier calmly replied, — 

^^I did, sir, rather unwillingly.” 

Why unwillingly ?” 

Because,” and here a quiet smile flickered over his face, it is 
hardly a part of a private soldier’s equipment. But it has only been 
in my possession a few hours since my joining the regiment, and I’ve 
not had time to send it away.” 

Then Stannard turned in his chair and glared at Brady and Rawson. 

Well, what do you wish to ask about this flask?” 

Rawson rose deliberately. First, that it be placed here on the 
table where all can see it ; then, that I may be permitted to read this.” 
And he unfolded a newspaper. 

Very coolly the soldier stepped forward and handed the handsome 
toy to Stannard, who gazed admiringly at it and placed it in the full 
light of the lamps on the table of the commanding officer. 

Then, clearing his throat, the lieutenant began : 

Among the passengers arriving in this city from the East to-day 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


525 


is Lord Lunemouth, eldest son and heir of the Earl of Lancaster. 
Lord Lunemouth is travelling for his health, and has been advised to 
seek the glorious climate of California, but has met with unpleasant 
experiences on the way. His train was held up by desperadoes in 
Wyoming, the passengers were robbed, and his personal losses con- 
sisted of some two hundred dollars in cash, a superb watch, and a 
handsome, silver-topped flask, the arms of his noble house engraved 
on the stopper. The latter he valued as a keepsake. Here follows,’^ 
said Mr. Eawsou, ^^a description of the arms. Here,^^ said he, lifting 
the flask, are the arms and motto of the house of Lancaster ; and 
now perhaps this gentleman, whom I perfectly well remember seeing 
in very different attire aboard the Paciflc express the night of the col- 
lision, will explain how he came into possession of the missing flask 
of Lord Lunemouth?’’ 

Then Mainwaring’s face was indeed a sight to see, but the amaze 
deepened, broadened, almost overmastered him, when, with perfect 
composure, the strange trooper replied, — 

‘‘With pleasure; though this is not Lord Lunemouth’s, but the 
mate to it. It was given to me by a member of the house of Lan- 
caster months ago. At the time of the train-robbery it was not in ray 
possession at all. For further information on that head I must refer 
you to Major Mainwaring.” 

“ House of Lancaster be bio wed !” was that veteran’s explosive reply. 
“ It was in my house right here at Ransom at that very time. Say, 
Rawson, you and Brady haven’t had any more sense in this matter 
than — I have !” 


CHAPTER XIV. 

A REMARKABLE winter, from a cavalry point of view, was that ; 
the first which the old regiment spent at Ransom, but, like many other 
things temporal and most things military, it came to an end, and people 
looking back upon it afterwards declared they were rather sorry, after 
all, for there was so much to make it vividly interesting at the time 
and to form topics for talk in the weeks to come. 

Sensations flattened out lamentably for nearly a fortnight after the 
quashing of Mainwaring’s martial indictment against “ the swell of the 
sorrel troop,” as Blake described Hunter, and when they reopened, about 
the height of the holiday season, other names and households than those 
herein mentioned were mainly conspicuous, although Blake managed 
to mix in more than one of them. Between him and Mainwaring was 
patched a truce, based primarily on the latter’s admission that he had 
probably made a mess of the whole business, but really couldn’t be 
held responsible in the face of such testimony as was offered by promi- 
nent officers of the — th, — Messrs. Brady and Rawson. Then Blake 
apologized for comparing the head of the junior major to the wreck 
of the magazine, and peace with honor, though not without difficulty, 
was established so far as the men were concerned. It was, in fact, less 
difficult than in the case of the women, for Miss Leroy had, it seems. 


526 


RAY’S RECRUIT. 


a very pretty will of her own, that Mrs. Mainwaring could neither 
bend nor break. Mrs. Mainwaring was of an old and distinguished 
family, and so was Miss Leroy, and the woman Miss Leroy most seri- 
ously affected was Mrs. Blake, n^e Bryan, daughter of a rather dissolute 
old ranchman once well known about Russell. It stung Mrs. Main- 
waring that her niece should have, as she said to her and whispered to 
others, so little pride. The story spread in the regiment through what 
was whispered, not through what was said, and Miss Leroy, already 
popular, became a hot favorite forthwith. 

She had come to spend the winter, but as soon as the holidays were 
over and her precious post children had had their Christmas-tree and 
other Christmas joys — even before the new year was fairly ushered in — 
she returned from the morning reading one day and found Mrs. Main- 
waring impatiently awaiting her. There were invitations for dinners, 
etc., extending a week, even ten days, ahead, and Mrs. Mainwaring 
wished to know which it was her niece^s pleasure to accept, and was 
aghast at the reply : any that might be acceptable to aunty up to 
January 5th, none for her after that date, as she would then have to 
return to New York. 

Remonstrance proved utterly useless. The second week in January 
saw Miss Leroy, accompanied to the station by most of the ladies and 
a few of their lords, safely aboard the East-bound train, with old 783 
and Jimmy Long in the lead. There were dozens of the children 
there to bid her good-by. There were even a number of enlisted men, 
with whom she warmly shook hands before she took her seat in the 
roomy Pullman. Captain and Mrs. Blake, her devoted friends, went 
with her as far as Omaha, where she was to join another party. 
Mrs. Mainwaring fairly dissolved in tears as they kissed each other 
good-by ; for, after all, Kate was the daughter of a long-loved, long- 
lost brother, if she was headstrong and independent, and never yet 
had woman left the dingy precincts of old Ransom so generally and 
thoroughly esteemed. 

But every one wondered for all that — even the many who would 
not give their thought expression — whether an understanding did not 
exist, whether she was not going with the expectation of meeting 
somewhere the remarkable recruit by the name of Hunter, for Hunter 
had left on a month’s furlough just ten days before. 

Mrs. Mainwaring declared that Kate’s sole reason for going was that 
she was too conscientious. She found her health restored (no one re- 
membered having heard of it as impaired), and she felt she must return 
to her kindred in the East and resume her interrupted duties there. But 
Mrs. Stannard and other wise women well knew that the main reason 
for her going was that life with Uncle and Aunt Mainwaring was not 
as peaceful or congenial, despite their pride in and affection for her, as 
it should have been. 

And then there was still another and more vital reason. Every- 
body” was talking about her interest in Trooper Hunter and his 
undoubted admiration for her. But Hunter had had to go back to 
duty with his troop, had met Miss Leroy only on the long afternoons 
and evenings when he, with two or three other blue-jackets, worked at 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


527 


the festooning and decorating, under her active supervision, of the post 
assembly hall. Then he had had an interview with Ray, his cap- 
tain, that brought matters to a climax. He applied for and received 
his furlough in the midst of the holidays, — left his kit with the first 
sergeant, his uniform with Murray, the carpenter, and Butte in a snow- 
storm, the Pullman smoker, and familiar-looking tweeds, travelling- 
cap, and ulster, at which Jim Long stared in astonished recognition 
when, as he alighted from his cab at the Junction, a swell civilian 
stepped up and smilingly tendered him a cigar. 

Whatever clouds had lowered over the house of Hunter were 
wafted away the night of that decisive conference of the powers, when 
Stannard and Truscott demolished the theories of Mainwaring and the 
aspersions of Brady & Company. Even Conway had limped out of 
his buggy a few days later to say he, too, had been fooled. (He was 
destined to be fooled still more when a jail- delivery turned loose his 
seven star performers on Christmas Eve.) Corporal Croxford and 
Trooper Elzey still maintained their conviction of Hunter^s guilt, until 
Mrs. Merri weather weakened over her husband’s death and confirmed 
his whole confession. The Kid was enjoying a temporary relapse into 
virtue, and was wearing a halo until pay-day. Mrs. Merriweather, 
bailed out by Freeman, was living in temporary retirement in Butte, 
yet already beginning to take notice,” and all Ransom was wondering 
what Trooper Hunter had gone on thirty days’ furlough for, and bet- 
ting two to one that he never would come back, when he suddenly 
came. 

He had been gone but twenty of the thirty days. He reported in 
person in the nattiest of fatigue uniforms to Captain Ray just before 
stable-call one sharp, clear January afternoon, and in a brief conversa- 
tion asked of his captain that he would send to Miss Leroy a little 
package he had brought with him from the East, and was manifestly 
disappointed when told that she had gone. 

Then they probably had not met at all, and Ransom was off the 
scent again. 

Just what might have been the result of this disappointment had 
matters remained in the usual midwinter plane of monotony, cannot be 
stated. What did happen was a sudden call from the department com- 
mander, a sudden demand for a strong escort to accompany him to the 
Hills, despite the biting weather, for sacred Indian lands were being 
invaded, and only his presence could prevail upon the Sioux to trust 
the matter of righting the wrong to him and Uncle Sam. Him they 
trusted readily enough, but shook their shaggy heads at mention of the 
Great Father. Let the Gray Fox leave enough soldiers here to drive 
away the would-be miners and prospectors, and they would keep the 
peace.” And so it was ordered. March and April saw the swell 
trooper deeply interested now, despite longings for news from civiliza- 
tion, in daily contact with and study of these warlike people, learning 
their uncouth language, buying their furs and bead-work, winning their 
good will by unexpected gifts and straightforward dealing. May came, 
and trouble. Congress was too busy with other matters to heed the 
request of the President that the recommendations of the general com- 


528 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


manding the department of the frontier be immediately carried out. 
The horned cattle and other supplies failed to arrive. The Indians 
said, Sold again, and scalped an attache of the nearest agency as a 
hint of what might happen to the agent himself if he didn^t expedite 
those supplies. Mid-May failed to bring the goods, but it brought the 
grass, and that was enough. Storm-signals had been set for a fortnight, 
yet the tornado burst with sudden and shocking force. Five hundred 
warriors swooped suddenly into the lower valley of the Ska. Out went 
every available man from Ransom, Rossiter, and Winthrop, and there 
was war to the knife ere the Gray Fox could interpose. 

A dandy^^ battalion was that with which Mainwaring danced away 
that sweet May morning, men and horses the pictures of health and 
high condition and eager for the field and the fray. Stannard with 
his four troops had marched eastward for the lower valley, but Main- 
waring was to hasten to the Hills, gather up the little force still in 
stockade at the nearest agency, then sweep on down to join the others. 
The telegraph line was repaired to Crested Butte, where the mutiny 
began, and there came this startling message just in time to meet 
them : 

Sioux agency reports that Lord Lunemouth and party of friends, 
twelve in all, including guides, passed up the Ska en route to the 
northern hills two days before the outbreak. Use all means in your 
power to find and protect them. Acknowledge receipt and report 
action.^^ 

It was forwarded to Mainwaring by Atherton, who said he was 
coming post-haste to take command in person in that part of the field; 
meantime to lose not a moment, but do his best. As usual, the call 
went out for Ray. 

Two days later, away up among the pine-crested heights, hot on 
the trail of a big war-party of Indians the sorrel troop was pushing. 
Mainwaring, with the three remaining companies, was trotting down 
into the valley of the North Fork to intercept and beat back further 
parties should they be tempted to follow their friends in the search for 
the unsuspecting tourists. Atherton, wdth the Winthrop battalion at 
his heels, was coming across country to the support of Mainwaring, 
while old Stannard, on familiar ground, was rounding up stragglers 
down the Ska, herding them back to the agency, and eagerly watching 
for the coming of the troops from Rossiter and the big posts away to 
the north. Then the Indians would be hemmed in. 

But meantime what damage might they not do ! There were no 
railways then save the few trunk lines, no means, except by marching, 
to reach the fabled Indian lands, and Lo was in his glory. Warned 
of their peril, settlers, herders, and stockmen had taken to flight and 
abandoned the lower valley, so the Indian was riding, proud raonarcli 
of all he surveyed, over the broad waste of the low lands, burning, 
pillaging, and raising, as the newspaper men first on the scene expressed 
it, ^^no scalps, but much hell.^^ If only good news could be heard of 
those tourists, all might yet be well. 

But what mad-brained trick could have prompted so hazardous a 
picnic? The agent at Brul6 Springs swore he had done his best to 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


529 


dissuade them, but there were three Englishmen who had never seen 
elk and were possessed with longing to stalk and shoot them. They 
were lavish with their money. Their interpreters talked directly to 
some of the old chiefs, Thunder Eagle and Rolling Bear especially, 
and the presents made these warriors caused the Sioux to clamor for 
more, but won a lordly permit from the crafty leaders to go shoot what 
they would, — the Sioux wouldn’t care, — and so led them squarely into 
the trap. Ray had found the debris of one of their camps towards 
noon of the second day of his daring march, and four hours later as he 
sped along their northward winding trail he came suddenly upon a deep 
cleft among the hills, away down in whose depths trickled an ice-cold 
rivulet where the tourists had drunk their fill, then gone on up the 
opposite heights, and after them, swift pursuing, a formidable war- 
party that had evidently come up this tributary to the Ska hoping here 
to find and intercept their prey. 

Men and horses of Ray’s troop both were weary. They drank 
eagerly, and some eyes, already haggard, looked appealingly at the set 
face of their captain. Forty-eight hours had they come with but scant 
halt for rest, and there was hardly a man in the party that could not 
have slept instantly had he lain down on that soft, inviting turf, — all, 
perhaps, but the indomitable leader and the tall trooper originally of the 
centre set of fours, yet so often on this second day riding side by side 
with, instead of following six yards behind, his commander, the place 
where the orderly is supposed to be. Scott, the young lieutenant, who 
should perhaps have taken exception to such favoritism, seemed to 
understand and object not at all. Hunter was up through here last 
month with surveyor’s escort,” was the explanation, and, though some 
men might have growled the information that other fellers were 
along too,” no one seemed to object, for the reason that it was thor- 
oughly known that Hunter made topographical notes from day to day 
and had them with him now, and it was these to which Ray so fre- 
quently referred as they hastened on. 

Plainly enough had the captain seen the symptoms of growing ex- 
haustion on both his men and mounts, — the dark lines under the deep- 
set eyes, the utter silence that prevailed along the dusty little company, 
the painful stumbling of the horses, and the constant effort needed 
to keep closed on the head of column. But he knew his men, and 
they knew him. It was not the first by many times they had been 
called upon to ride with life or death the stake. Somewhere, not three 
hours ahead, probably, was a murderous band of Sioux seeking to 
redress undoubted injuries by the only method the Indian knows, — the 
blood of the pale-faced brothers of those that had wrought the wrong. 
That these tourists had bought the consent of their chief to hunt, camp, 
and explore through the Indian lands, that they were innocent of 
wrong-doing, that they despised the robbers of the red man as much as 
the Indian hated him, had no bearing on the case. These were white 
men, rashly intruding far within the Brule lines at a time when the 
Great Spirit, through their medicine-men, had sounded the call to bat- 
tle, and high or low, rich or poor, English or American, man, woman, 
or child, it made no difference. That fated party represented just 
You LIX.— 34 


530 


RAY\S RECRUIT, 


SO many coveted scalps, no more and no less, and if Indian strategy 
could compass their capture alive or their destruction without the spill- 
ing of a drop of Indian blood, all the more would their warrior band 
receive the acclamations of a tribe that worshipped prowess like unto 
that of the prairie wolf or fleet-footed fox. Ninety strong, led by a 
daring young chief whose father and mother both had died when the 
soldiers of the Long Hair dashed upon their village some years before, 
they had cut loose from all bands around the Ska, and hastened in 
search of the white invaders guaranteed by old Rolling Bear safe- 
conduct not a week before. 

And unerringly their instinct led them to the lovely park country 
on the north side of the hills, for there was noble game in profusion. 
Thither must the lordly whites have gone, rich in horses, arms, stores, 
and provisions of every kind, and for months the Sioux were starving. 

It was the sight of the fresh hoof-prints of fourscore ponies that 
settled all question of rest at the rivulet in the mind of Captain Ray. 

Men,’’ said he, I hate to wear you out, but before another sunrise 
we must circumvent these fellows, or it’s all up with the tourists.” 

There were Irish troopers in the leading four who loved to talk of the 
Clan na-Gael and Home Rule for Erin and death to England’s cruel 
red” when time hung heavy on their hands in camp or barrack. But 
that seemed all forgotten now. Like the famous Mavericks, they only 
talked of mutiny when no other fighting was to be done. * Only the 
horses seemed to groan at the command to mount, and once more on 
went the Sorrels au secours. 

An hour after nightfall, in the bright light of the climbing moon, 
they had splashed through another shallow, foaming stream in another 
and narrower rift among the hills, two veteran sergeants, with Ray and 
Hunter, well out in front, when just as the foremost, a shadowy form, 
rode warily to a little point of bluff three hundred yards ahead, Ray’s 
gauntleted hand swung high his scouting hat in air, as half turning in 
saddle he signalled Halt !” for the leading rider was gesticulating 
wildly, and Sergeant Conners came galloping back. 

Treed ’em, by God, sir !” he cried, in excitement irrepressible. 

They’ve stopped for a scalp-dance. You can hear ’em plain.” 

Yes, faint, but distinct, beating quicker every minute, the weird 
throb of the war-drum could be heard, and with it the shrill whoop 
and yell of excited dancers. 

Then you’re right. Hunter,” promptly spoke the captain. That 
can mean only one thing. They’ve located the party over in Keogh’s 
Park, just where you said they’d pitch their camp, and these beggars 
mean to jump them at dawn. We’ll show ’em a trick worth ten of 
that, won’t we, Dixie?” he continued, patting the neck of the game 
little sorrel he rode. What blessed luck that they should stop to 
celebrate !” 

Slowly, eautiously, the shadowy troop led forward to a grove of 
pines not far from the water’s edge, and close to the sheltering bluff 
beyond which the warriors were having their jollification. There they 
waited, breathless, the sound of revelry gaining every minute on the 
night. Taking Conners and Hunter with him, Ray crept forward to 


RA V ’S RECR UIT. 531 

reconnoitre, — he and his sergeant veterans in the craft, Hunter a novice, 
whose heart beat wildly, but who never faltered. 

Fast and furious drove the dance. Loud and shrill arose the 
whoops and war-cries, dying away at times like the yelp of prairie 
wolves to faint and distant gurgling, then swelling again like the 
chorus of hounds in full view of the quarry. Drum, rattle, and 
piercing whistle added to the clamor, echoed back from the dark, pine- 
crested cliffs that overhung this wild nook in the hills. Fresh fagots 
heaped upon the fire threw the dusky, writhing forms, resplendent in 
war-bonnet and savage finery, into bold relief, and Ray’s brave heart 
almost sank within him as he counted. Ponies they could not see, for 
they were herded farther up the cove beyond the fire, but every indica- 
tion pointed to there being well-nigh a hundred well-armed warriors 
right there within revolver-shot, while others, doubtless, hovered like 
watchful spies about the unsuspecting camp beyond the range. 

We could never get past them without discovery,” muttered the 
captain, finally. We’re far too few to drive them. How far is it 
back down the valley and around to the park?” 

Not less than forty miles, sir,” answered Hunter, though it can’t 
be more than six or seven over the old game trail across the range.” 

Then,” said Ray, there’s nothing for it but to send a brace of 
men up the heights afoot to warn the camp before daybreak, while the 
troop hangs on to their heels.” 

It was barely nine o’clock now, and high aloft on the northern side 
of the gorge, glistening white, the cliffs broke through the sombre 
fringe of pine and shone like silver in the moonlight. Somewhere 
ahead of the watchers in the black depths of the westward end of the 
deep ravine an old game trail wound and twisted up the mountain side 
over into the beautiful park beyond. Hunter well remembered and 
had traced it in his notes. Over this trail Lord Lunemouth’s joyous 
party had evidently gone. Over this the Indian scouts had tracked 
him. Over this the war-party doubtless meant to follow in time to 
make their dash at daybreak. Over this, neck or nothing, warning 
must be sent, and the intermediate ground was so completely occupied 
by the Indians that cavalry could not hope to slip by undetected. It 
could only be attempted by daring fellows afoot. 

And the first man to speak out when, in few words, Ray explained 
the situation to the troop, was that incorrigible rascal, the Kid. I’m 
game to go, sir.” 

Good for one,” said Ray. 

‘‘Here’s another, sir,” “And here,” “And here,” came in low tone 
from half a dozen in the wearied troop, but Ray waited for still another 
voice, until, half turning, he looked as though inquiringly at Hunter, 
who had already kicked off his boots and was pulling on a pair of 
moccasins, drawn from his saddle-bags. Then Hunter looked up and 
spoke. 

“I, of course, sir. I’m the only man that knows the way.” 
Whereat Ray’s white teeth gleamed in the moonlight, and the men 
knew all was well. 

Three hours later a strangely assorted pair, a tall, slender, blond- 


532 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


bearded man. with clear-cut, handsome features, and an undersized, 
weazen-faced, devil-may-care Irish lad, dressed alike in dark-blue shirts 
and blouses, in light-blue riding-breeches and Indian-tanned leggings, 
girt with cartridge-belt and revolver, and carrying the brown carbine 
in hand, halted for breath at the very summit of the divide between 
Keogh’s Park and the deep gorge in the southeastward hills. Perilous, 
indeed, had been their journey. Leaving their comrades well below 
the position of the Indian camp, they had slowly scaled the cliffs to 
the north, then crept along among the pines until immediately above 
the rejoicing Indians, and then, slowly and cautiously through the 
scattered timber, followed westward by the stars until at last in a de- 
pression they came upon the trail, easily recognizable in the occasional 
patches of moonlight. Then, eager and cautious, they followed up, up 
the winding way, ever alert for sound of hoof-beat, until at last they 
reached the crest and Hunter’s watch proclaimed it midnight. 

From a rocky point they could see outspread beneath them to the 
northward a beautiful park country, faintly pictured in the silvery 
light, and, laying a hand on his companion’s sleeve. Hunter pointed 
afar down to their left front. 

‘‘ The springs lie just south of that high butte,” he murmured, 
and there we’ll find their camp, if only we can dodge the Indian 
watchers on the way.” 

Ay, there was the rub, and there was no time to lose. Ever watch- 
ful, as before, they began the gradual descent, peering from tree to tree, 
flitting like shadows from rock to rock, until at last they reached the 
lower limit of the timber-line, and there before them lay an almost 
open valley, two miles wide, destitute of cover” except along the 
stream that nearly equally divided it, and up that stream, perhaps two 
miles, some white objects gleamed in the moonlight near a clump of 
trees, and there at Keogh’s Springs, just as Hunter had predicted, lay 
the threatened camp. 

But how were they to reach it unobserved ? for here and every- 
where the Kid could point out fresh pony-tracks, and even as they 
paused at the belt of pines, away out on the slopes beyond, hidden 
from camp by intervening rises in the ground, dark forms of horsemen, 
three or four, were plainly visible, and the Kid could tell from old 
experience that nothing living would escape those watchers’ eyes. 

But up the slope the trees were thicker, and again, though wearily, 
they sought their shelter, and slowly crawled from clump to clump 
until towards three o’clock they were nearly opposite the sleeping camp, 
lying out there in a lovely glade, barely long rifle-shot away. 

Twice, thrice they had seen an Indian on nimble pony, moving 
cautiously about, well out of sight of camp. Time and again the 
coyotes yelped and loud-mouthed challenge was bayed by suspicious 
watch-dogs near the tents, but still the Saxons slept all innocent of 
danger, and time was getting fearfully short. 

What’s to hinder our crawling out as far as we can go ? then, if 
we’re seen, shoot the sucker that tries to stop us, and run for it,” 
muttered the Irishman. It’s the only chance I see.” 

The moon was well over to the west, but still so high her light 


RAY'S RECRUIT. 


533 


betrayed every moving object in the open ground; but, as the Kid 
explained, there seemed to be no other way. Down went the two flat 
upon their stomachs, and the slow, tortuous process began. Before 
they had made a hundred yards Celtic patience gave out. Damned 
if I can stand this,’^ said the Irishman. ‘‘ There^s not an Indian in 
sight now. Come on. Let’s run for it.” 

Suiting action to the word, the little sinner was on his feet, and in 
another minute skimming away like a racer to the goal. 

And then as Hunter started to follow he saw a sight that made him 
thrill with dread. As though they sprang from the bowels of the 
earth, two Indians on swift ponies darted into view, and, bending low 
over their chargers’ necks, lashing them to mad gallop, they fairly shot 
across the resounding, turf-clad prairie, swift and straight towards the 
scudding form. 

Look out. Kid ! Look out !” rang Hunter’s voice in a yell that 
woke the valley. Bang! went the Paddy’s ready carbine in reply. 
Dogs, coyotes, carbines, rifles, Indian yells, and Saxon blasphemy burst 
upon the silence of the night. An Indian pony plunged and tossed 
his rider sprawling within a dozen yards of where the Kid had turned 
at bay, and Hunter, rushing to the rescue, had just time to kneel, when 
two or three revolvers seemed to crack at once, and the air was rent 
with fire-flashes. But the soldier’s aim was true, and one tall warrior 
toppled heavily forward and bit the dust as Hunter sped on to his 
comrade’s aid. He found him clasping his hands about his knee and 
rolling in agony on the turf. 

“ For the love of God, don’t stop !” cried he. They’ve smashed 
my leg, and I’m done for. There’s a dozen to one of us.” Dozen or 
not, they were in for it now. Hunter knelt, and, though his heart beat 
hard, sent shot after shot at every flitting form he saw, until, amazed 
at the vigorous defence, the Indians seemed to haul away. Then up 
he lifted the protesting Kid and lugged him full another hundred 
yards before again he had to drop him and fight. Then once more, 
half lifting, half dragging, he rushed him on, cheered by the evidence 
that the Indians dared not come too close and that camp was aroused 
and blazing away. Luckily, the guides had quickly realized what was 
up. Luckily, they reasoned that there could be but few Indians in the 
immediate neighborhood, for out they came — three or four — to the 
succor of the burdened man, and reached him only as, exhausted by 
his efforts and by loss of blood from a wound hardly noticed when 
received, he sank, fainting, to the ground, the Kid still pluckily swear- 
ing in his arms. 

And so, an hour later, when the Indians swooped in force upon the 
camp they found it thoroughly prepared, surrounded by hastily con- 
structed rifle-pits or breastworks, around which, five hundred yards 
away, they dashed and yelled and kept up their wild fusillade, but both 
times they strove to charge three or four saddles were emptied by the 
cool aim of the defence, and then, to cap the climax of their discom- 
fiture, out from the foot-hills burst their old acquaintance the sorrel 
troop, Laughing Lightning,” as once the Cheyennes had named Ray, 
cheering in the lead. And the warriors broke for cover, and kept in 


534 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


cover at respectful distance until Mainwaring himself, a whole day 
later, with his three comrade troops, came trotting up the valley, and 
then they disappeared entirely. 

But meantime there had been a meeting and recognition little looked 
for. Four happier Englishmen were never seen than Lunemouth and 
the trio with him, for no other reason than that for a time their lives 
had been in mortal peril and they had enjoyed the unlooked-for luxury 
of a square fight. That exultation over, they had had time to thank 
the American Tommies’^ to whose daring they owed it that they were 
not massacred in their beds. Both troopers were wounded, the little 
fellow profanely voluble, the tall one strangely silent. Over this latter 
bent the younger of the first two Englishmen. 

You are not much hurt, I hope, my good fellow? YouVe 

Good God ! You? — Gray? I vow I heard you were dead.’^ 

A faint smile flitted about the bearded face, and the prostrate 
soldier winced as he answered : And you, Rokeby, I heard you were 
married. 

Even when Mainwaring came, it was useless to resume trooper 
relations, for he found Hunter installed in the best cot the tourists 
owned, the Kid, too, in clover, despite the pain of his w^ound. The 
doctor said HunteFs hurt would not soon heal, and Lord Lunemouth 
vowed that both were his guests until they could be safely moved, and 
rather plainly intimated to the major that he considered one particular 
private, at least, of more account than the battalion commander, which 
was subversive of good order and military discipline. Then of course 
Mainwaring had to hear the truth, already known to Ray and rumored 
throughout the Sorrels, that their swell comrade was even an older 
friend of these swells from abroad. 

Then where in thunder was it I met you before ?’’ growled Main- 
waring, in distinct sense of personal injury, as he looked down into the 
placidly smiling face of the wounded trooper, and Blake nearly ex- 
ploded with delight over the cool response : 

At the armory of my old regiment, when the major was on re- 
cruiting service in New York City. I had the honor of being on the 
reception committee the night of our ball.^^ 

Good God said Mainwaring ; and yet you look just like a 
fellow that deserted from the Dragoons.’^ 

No, Hunter didn’t rise to a commission. There was talk about it, 
but he had acquired other views. He is said to have remarked that 
the N.G.N.Y. would suffice in the future.” His wounds proved 
painful ; an honorable discharge was asked for and granted, and there 
was a big time at the agency when he and the Kid bade good-by to 
their comrades and were taken back to Ransom in an ambulance, the 
Kid rich beyond the dreams of avarice” with the largesse of Lan- 
caster, and Gray parted with only after his promise to spend a month 
at the ancestral seat that very year. 

Later Hunter went East. The Blakes and Rays heard from him 
frequently for several weeks. He was once more under his uncle’s 
roof, once more in daily company with the bereaved widower, now re- 


RAY^S RECRUIT. 


535 


stored to partial health and unexpected fortune since the tragic death 
of his wife ; but when the hope of the house of Lancaster went back 
to England, Lunemouth’s lung in surprising working order, Gray, 
who might have gone, declined. The Langdons were still abroad 
somewhere, and Amy wore no coronet. It had somehow dawned on 
Rokeby that that coronet was an indispensable adjunct to the engage- 
ment, and the glorious climate of California had played havoc with 
Amy’s expectations. There was some society talk of Gray’s going in 
search of that lovely but disappointed damsel, and No doubt,” said 
he to a serious-faced, beautiful -eyed young woman with whom he was 
found limping along the sands one August evening at the sea-shore, 
no doubt I should have gone and been refused again, but for just one 
thing.” 

And what was that, pray ?” asked Miss Leroy, a quiver about 
her lips despite her nonchalance of manner, for he had been her shadow 
since he came. 

This,” said he, taking from an inner pocket a worn little glove 
of undressed kid. ‘^It was dropped by my bedside when I lay in 
hospital at Ransom. I have been looking, longing for the hand that 
lost it, ever since.” 


THE END. 


536 


OYSTER-PLANTING AND OYSTER-FARMING. 


OYSTER^PL ANTING AND OYSTER-FARMING. 

S INCE the beginning men have delighted in the food provided for 
them by the mollusks, and the shell-heaps which formed the 
debris of their feasts upon these delicacies remain until now in all 
regions of the world where Nature has produced creatures of the 
genus Mollusca. 

Of all species of the mollusks, the oyster has been and is the 
favorite. Of these Nature has been so marvellously prolific in their 
development that they are to be found in abundance in nearly all seas. 
And the oyster-rocks have yielded a goodly proportion of the food of 
savage and civilized men in all ages, along the shores of their nativity. 

To-day the oyster-interest is one of the most important industries; 
it gives employment to thousands of persons, and millions of dollars 
of capital are invested therein. There is a constantly growing de- 
mand for them, at present much in excess of their natural productive 
power ; so that the increase of the oyster-supply is one of the practical 
questions of the time. By the application of modern methods the 
oyster-grounds are made to yield far beyond the natural supply ; and 
by proper care they can be made to produce an almost unlimited 
quantity. 

In early days oysters were to be found in lavish abundance along 
all our coasts. Nearly all the creeks and inlets along the sea-coast 
of New York State abounded with a fine quality of oysters. In 
Nieuw Amsterdam, in 1621, very large oisters’^ were so common that 
a market could not be found for them, as any one could supply him- 
self from the beds. In 1671 Arnoldus Montanus, and in 1681 Sir 
George Calvert, reported that the new settlements had among other 
advantages oysters a foot long in great plenty. Letters written about 
the same time contain such statements as these : At Amboy Point 
and several other places there is abundance of brave oysters ^‘Oysters 
such as I think would serve all England We have one thing more 
particular to us, which the others want also, which is vast oyster banks, 
which is the constant fresh victuals during the winter to English as 
well as Indians. Of these there are many all along our coast, from 
the sea as high as against New York, whence they come to fetch 
them.’^ 

Peter Kalm, who wrote upon the subject in 1748, says, The 
Indians who inhabited the coast before the arrival of the Europeans 
have made oysters and other shell-fish their chief food ; and at present, 
whenever they reach salt water where oysters are to be got, they are 
very active in catching them, and sell them in great quantities to other 
Indians who live higher up in the country ; for this reason you see the 
immense numbers of oyster and mussel shells piled up near such 
places, where you are certain that the Indians formerly built their 
huts.^^ He also states that the oyster-beds were within view of the 
town of New York in 1748, and that the oystermen were able to earn 


OYSTER-PLANTINO AND OYSTER FARMING. 


537 


eight or ten shillings a day. He says that at this time the value of 
the oyster-fisheries of the province was much more than ten thousand 
pounds annually. 

Very much earlier, in 1679, Jasper Hankers and Peter Slyter, in 
a ‘^Journal of a Voyage to New York,’’ spoke of the abundance of 
oysters in the vicinity of what is now Brooklyn, and say that they 
found them large and full, many being more than a foot long. Even 
at this time. New York oysters were exported to the West Indies, 
either pickled or fried, or embedded in a solid air-tight mass of butter ; 
and Kalm says that in 1748 the exportation of fruit and oysters was a 
large and important business. 

The sources of supply are, first, natural beds ; second, planting ; 
and third, farming. The second consists in placing the young seed- 
oysters upon bottoms favorable for their growth. The third, oyster- 
farming, is the rearing of oysters from the egg. 

The natural bed is an oyster-rock. The boundaries of this rock 
are usually well defined, and few oysters are to be found beyond its 
limits. The oysters are packed so near together that they cannot lie 
flat, but grow vertically, side by side. In such a bed it will be found 
that most of the rock is made up of empty shells, the closeness being 
so great that the growth of one oyster prevents adjacent ones from 
opening their shells, and thus crowds them out and exterminates them. 
Nearly every one of the living oysters is fastened to the open or free 
end of a dead shell, and often a pile of five or six shells is thus united. 
The second, when young, has fastened to the end of the first, thus get- 
ting a little above the others. The first dies, the second continues to 
develop, and then a third fastens itself to its shell, and so on. 

In regions where the oysters are never disturbed by man, it is com- 
mon to find a hard bottom extending along the edge of the shore for 
miles and divided up into a number of oyster-rocks, where the oysters 
are so thick that most of them are crowded out and die long before 
they are full grown, and between these beds there are areas where not 
a single oyster is to be found. The intervening area is perfectly 
adapted for the oyster: when a few bushels of shells are scattered upon 
it they are soon covered with young, and in a year or two a new oyster- 
rock is established upon them. 

The young oysters are swimming animals, and they are discharged 
into the water in countless numbers, to be swept away great distances 
by the currents. At this time they are too small to be seen without a 
microscope, and the water for miles around the natural beds is full of 
them. Thus when shells are placed in the barren spaces the spat young 
ones will cling to them. 

The history of the oyster-beds of all countries is the story of their 
deterioration and destruction. The people, finding them in great abun- 
dance, conclude that they are inexhaustible, until they see them con- 
sumed. Upon the coast of New England, north of Cape Cod, and 
upon the coast of New Brunswick, oysters of gigantic size and fine 
flavor were formerly plentiful, but they have been so completely ex- 
terminated by tongs that a well-known naturalist of Boston, Dr. Gould, 
doubted whether there ever had been any native oysters in this region. 


538 


OYSTER-PLANTING AND OYSTER-FARMING. 


notwithstanding that all the early writers spoke of their numbers. 
Many of these beds were destroyed by the Indians, and others by the 
early settlers, while a few have survived down to quite recent times. 

In the early days of our history it was not uncommon for a man to 
rake up a sleigh-load of oysters through the ice in a single afternoon at 
Shediac, New Brunswick. Twenty-five or thirty years ago these beds 
yielded a thousand barrels a year ; now two persons gain a scanty living 
upon them, and obtain between them about two hundred bushels a year. 

The early settlers of New England continually refer to the abun- 
dance of oysters at points where not one can now be found. In 1634, 
William Wood, in a work on New England, mentioned an oyster-bank 
in the Charles River, near Boston, and another in the Mystic River, 
each of so great size as to obstruct navigation. Of their size and form 
he says, They be great ones in form of a shoe-horn ; some be a foot 
long. These breed on certain banks that are bare every springtide. 
This fish, without shell, is so big that it must admit of a division 
before you can well get it into your mouth. 

Native oysters were abundant at Well fleet, on Cape Cod, at the 
time of the first white settlements. For more than a hundred years 
the town was famous for its oysters, but they became extinct in 1775, 
through excessive tonging, although the inhabitants attributed their 
destruction not to their own rapacity, but to a disease sent by Provi- 
dence upon the oysters as a punishment for the sins of the fishermen. 

There are extant the records of the production of the beds of Can- 
cale Bay, on the northwest coast of France, from 1800 to 1868. These 
beds comprise one hundred and fifty acres, and from 1800 to 1816 pro- 
duced from four hundred thousand to two million four hundred thou- 
sand a year. But in that period of the Napoleonic wars the fishing 
was much disturbed by the presence of the English cruisers, and the 
oysters increased so that the beds were in some places a yard thick. 
After the war the fishing improved, and the oysters were removed in 
immense numbers until 1843. In 1843 seventy million were taken. 
From that time on there was a constant decrease, — the period of in- 
creased productivity being attributable to the enforced rest. In 1868 
the oysters had almost entirely disappeared from the beds. In 1870 
a total prohibition of the fisheries for several years was enacted. 

The experience in regard to the exhaustion of the beds on the west 
coast of France, in the districts of Rochefort, Marennes, and the Island 
of Ol6ron, was similar. In 1866, in the neighborhood of Falmouth, 
England, there were seven hundred men, working three hundred boats, 
engaged in the fisheries. Then, under the impression that the oysters 
were abundant enough to justify the doing away with the closed season, 
an enactment was made to that effect. The process of exhaustion 
began in consequence, so that in 1876 only forty boats with forty men 
could find employment ; and they could capture no more than sixty to 
a hundred oysters a day, while formerly in the same time a boat could 
take ten thousand. 

Oyster-planting is the placing of small or seed oysters upon bottoms 
which are favorable to their growth. There are many bottoms where 
there are no natural oysters, simply because there is nothing for them to 


OYSTER-PLANTING AND OYSTER-FARMING. 


539 


fasten upon, or because the spat has not been carried there. By plant- 
ing, the number of oysters is not increased, but the conditions are made 
favorable for a larger number to reach maturity; for under natural 
conditions the young oysters fasten themselves so close together and in 
such great numbers that the growth of one involves the crowding out 
and destruction of hundreds of others, which might have been saved 
by scattering them over unoccupied ground. 

Planting also adds very greatly to their value, as they grow more 
rapidly and are of better quality when thus scattered than when upon 
natural beds. Captain Cox, of New Jersey, cites an instance in which 
thirteen dollars’ worth of small seed-oysters yielded, after they had 
been planted for two years, oysters which were sold for one hundred 
and eleven dollars, besides about thirty bushels which were used as 
food by the planter’s family. 

A good deal of attention has been paid to planting in Virginia. 
In some of the Northern States all the land which is fit for the pur- 
pose is thus occupied. In many States, as in Delaware, a great part of 
New Jersey, and especially in Rhode Island, the natural beds have 
been so heavily drawn upon that they long ago ceased to furnish any 
marketable oysters, and they are valuable now only as a source from 
which a supply of small oysters can be gathered each year for planting. 
In these beds . the spat is increased in value hundreds of times by the 
planting system. 

The prosperity and rapid increase of population of Staten Island 
were chiefly due to the encouragement and growth of the oyster-plant- 
ing industry. At Prince’s Bay on the island there has been some 
planting for more than seventy years. So long ago as 1853 there were 
three thousand of the inhabitants of that island depending upon this 
business for support. 

Oysters have been planted in York Bay, in New Jersey, since 
1810, and a suit was brought about that date in Shrewsbury to deter- 
mine whether a man has the exclusive right to the oysters which he 
has planted. 

In Rhode Island all bottoms between high-water mark and the 
ship-channel are public property, to be controlled by the State in such 
a way as to secure the greatest good to the greatest number of its citi- 
zens. In 1865 laws were passed allowing the leasing to private citi- 
zens, for a term of years, at an annual rental of ten dollars per acre, 
of any bottoms which are covered with water at low tide and are not 
within any harbor line, to be used as a private fishery for the planting 
and cultivating of oysters, whether these lands contain natural beds or 
not, and efiicient laws were enacted for the protection of private rights. 
By this measure the revenue of the State has been increased, and it is 
stated that the rentals of the beds will in time pay all the expenses of 
the State government. Nine-tenths of the annual supply are sold out- 
side the State. It is doubtful whether there is any farming land in 
the United States which yields as great a profit to the acre as that used 
for oyster-planting in Rhode Island. 

In Delaware there is a law which allows any citizen to appropriate 
fifteen acres of ground where there are no natural oysters, upon pay- 


e540 


OYSTER-PLANTING AND OYSTER-FARMING. 


merit of a fee of twenty-five dollars and an annua! license-fee of three 
dollars per ton for the boat used. This system has been the source of 
great wealth. Nearly half of the million seed-oysters which are 
annually planted upon these beds are taken from Maryland waters, 
and they cost the planter less than twenty-five cents per bushel, put 
down upon his beds. These oysters are taken up within three or four 
months, and are then sold for more than eighty cents per bushel. 

A method of oyster-planting in artificial ponds has been highly 
developed in France, where it is found to yield an adequate return for 
the labor and capital invested, as oysters fattened in this way sell for 
fifty per cent, more than those from the natural beds. 

In 1880 the exportation of oysters from the Chesapeake for plant- 
ing was as follows ; three million three hundred and seventy-five thou- 
sand five hundred bushels were planted at Wellfleet, Massachusetts, 
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Portland, Maine, Buzzard’s Bay and 
Vineyard Sound, Narragansett Bay, in Eastern Connecticut, at New 
Haven, and in New York Bay and Delaware Bay. This practice has 
existed for many years, and Chesapeake oysters were taken to New 
York and New Jersey for planting as long ago as 1825. Gould states 
that forty thousand bushels were used at Wellfleet in 1840, and one 
hundred thousand in 1860. It is probable that for the twenty years 
immediately preceding the war the town of Wellfleet planted on an 
average fifty thousand bushels of Chesapeake oysters each year. 

The exportation of seed-oysters from Chesapeake Bay for planting 
in Connecticut was carried on on a very extensive scale for more than 
fifty years, although it has now practically ceased. In those times a 
large fleet of Connecticut vessels was employed in this traffic every 
winter, and some stirring traditions remain of perilous voyages during 
the icy season. In 1879 five hundred and fifteen thousand bushels of 
seed-oysters were taken from Chesapeake Bay to be planted in Con- 
necticut, and after three years of good management brought about such 
a change that in the spring of 1883 one firm shipped to San Francisco 
fifteen millions of young oysters which had been reared on the Con- 
necticut oyster-farms and were used for planting on the Pacific coast. 
Connecticut is now able to sell seed-oysters to other States, besides 
sending an immense supply to Europe. 

Within recent years much attention has been given to the possibility 
of increasing the supply of oysters artificially. The oyster is enor- 
mously prolific, a single one giving birth in one season to many mil- 
lions of young. Under a state of nature millions of oysters are born 
for each one which grows to maturity. One of the most important 
discoveries of the last fifty years is that it is quite possible to save 
many of these by artificial means. 

Oyster-farming has come to be recognized as one of the great 
industries, but it is still capable of almost measureless expansion. An 
oyster is as subject to improvement by cultivation as a vegetable. The 
cultivation of oysters is therefore a legitimate employment for labor 
and capital. This industry can be successfully carried on on a small 
scale and with little capital in shallow waters and near the shore; but 
in deep water the investment of a large capital is required. 


OYSTER-PLANTING AND OYSTER-FARMING, 


541 


A successful method of farming consists in placing clean oyster- 
shells upon the bottom, just before the spawning season, for the attach- 
ment of the young, and then placing among these shells a few mature 
oysters to furnish the eggs. When the young oysters are large enough 
to handle they are distributed over the bottom. This method has been 
pursued for more than fifty years in the East River, near New York 
City. Oyster-farm ing is also carried on in New Jersey, on Long Island, 
and in Connecticut. This is a very profitable industry : upon a French 
farm of five hundred acres sixteen million oysters were taken in six 
tides. 

The whole secret of oyster-culture is to furnish proper bodies for 
the attachment of the young. Many methods of doing this have been 
devised and employed. Although the development of this industry on 
a large scale is quite modern, seed-oysters for planting have been raised 
on a small scale in Italy for more than a thousand years by the follow- 
ing method. About the beginning of the seventh century a Roman 
knight, Sergius Grata, undertook the artificial breeding of oysters in 
Lake Lucrine. The enterprise was successful, and its author in a short 
time became very rich. The following method is still employed in 
that region, and we may presume that it is practically the same as that 
invented by Sergius. Upon the blackish mud are constructed here and 
there rockeries of rough stones, thrown into heaps sufficiently elevated 
to be protected from deposits of mud or slime. Upon these rocks 
oysters taken from the sea are deposited. Each rockery is surrounded 
by a circle of stakes. The stakes are united by a cord passing from 
one to another, to which are suspended between each two stakes a 
small bundle of twigs floating in the water at a short distance from 
the bottom. When the fishing season arrives the stakes and bundles 
of fagots are taken up, those oysters are used which are suitable for 
market, and then the stakes are replaced. The discovery of a few 
very interesting ancient Roman pictures of the industry indicates that 
this method was used so long ago as the days of Augustus. 

About sixty years ago an unknown fisherman in the East River, in 
New York, began practical experiments in this line. The famous 
French naturalist Coste soon after began his investigations and experi- 
ments in France. The American’s experiments resulted in the Ameri- 
can system of oyster-farming as it exists in Long Island Sound and on 
the south shore of Long Island. Coste’s experiments have led to the 
development of the French system. 

In 1858 Coste stated that out of twenty-three natural beds which 
formerly constituted a great source of wealth, eighteen had been com- 
pletely destroyed, and the remainder so impoverished that they no 
longer yielded enough oysters for planting. In another locality, where 
thirteen valuable beds had annually yielded a harvest valued at eighty 
thousand dollars, only three beds remained, and these were so depleted 
that twenty boats could in a few days carry away all the oysters. 

In March, 1858, Coste began the work of replenishing the exhausted 
beds on the coast of France. In an area depleted by dredging, where 
the beds had been so completely destroyed that they could not provide 
spat, six long beds of oysters were planted and buoyed out. The 


542 


LIFE. 


bottoms around these beds were then thoroughly planted with the 
shells of oysters and other mollusks. Bundles of twigs, six to ten feet 
long, were then fastened by stone anchors a foot above the bottom, to 
serve as spat-collectors. Six months later these bundles were found 
to be completely covered with spat, and twenty thousand young were 
counted upon one bundle. 

Two government farms were established, with a force of one hun- 
dred and twelve persons, and an area of nearly one thousand acres 
w^as stocked in the same way. In 1863, during six tides, and upon 
only half of the restocked lands, sixteen million oysters were taken. 
Land was ceded by the government to individuals, and one area of 
four hundred and ninety-two acres was in a few years stocked with 
oysters valued at eight million dollars. 

The American system has grown up without direct encouragement 
from the government, as the result of private enterprise. The French 
people are generally held to be the originators of the system, but this 
is an error. Several years before Coste began his experiments, the 
oystermen of the East River began the practice of shelling the beds at 
the spawning season in order to increase the supply. T^ree years 
before Coste began his experiments, the State of New York, in 1855, 
enacted a law to secure to private farmers the fruits of their labors, 
and a number of persons engaged in the new industry on an extensive 
scale. The industry has grown steadily from that time, and the East 
River is now the scene of the most painstaking and scientific oyster- 
culture in the United States. 

Thus a modern industry has arisen by which the world is being 
furnished with an increasing supply of one of its favorite foods. But 
oyster-planting and oyster-farming are still in their infancy, and are 
yet inadequate to the immense demand. Year after year these inter- 
ests are being extended, and the time is not far away when by these 
methods oysters will be produced in such quantities and at such mod- 
erate prices as readily to meet the needs of the world. 

Calvin Bill Wilson, 


LIFE. 

O N the wide waste one tree stands forth, 
In whose green gloom 
The snow-bird nestles when the North 
Blows down with death and doom. 

Huge forces, wind and snow and storm. 
Here meet and part : 

In the white chaos safe and warm 
There beats one tiny heart. 


Frederick Peterson, 


TWO CHINESE FUNERALS. 


543 


TWO CHINESE FUNERALS. 

I F one wants to study the Chinaman and his habits of life, to meet 
him in his native country would afford no better opportunity than 
can be found in the Chinese quarter of San Francisco. There you can 
follow him from his birth all along through his peculiar training, even 
to his grave in historic Lone Mountain,^^ where the early Franciscan 
monks planted the great cross as a guide to the missions they had 
established on the Bay of San Francisco; but here John’^ reposes 
for the time being only, as the Celestial of the Flowery Kingdom 
believes that his bones must go to dust in his native land. 

His first interment is decidedly interesting to one watching the 
observance of customs regarding the dead, who are supposed to be 
buried on the day of death. The funerals of the rich are marked by 
the same ostentation with which our so-called favored ones are wont to 
surround their departed friends, while those of the poor are character- 
ized by the same lack of display that attends the unfortunates of our 
own land. The pauper Chinaman goes to his grave in an ordinary 
express- wagon, perhaps with one or two of his countrymen detailed 
to scatter the scraps of white paper along the line of march, that his 
spirit may not lose track of the body which it is expected to inhabit 
again on the resurrection day. 

It was on a rainy day in 1881 that this particular pauper of whom 
I write reached Lone Mountain, just in advance of a grand funeral 
procession which the burial of a wealthy merchant had brought together. 
The grave-digger, a typical son of Erin, had in both cases made the 
necessary preparations, and with shovel in hand waited the arrival of 
the ‘^express.^^ There was not, in those days, the kindest feeling ex- 
isting in his heart for the Chinaman, who he believed robbed him, to 
a great extent, of employment ; and, further, the soil of Lone Moun- 
tain is very sandy, and graves are apt to cave in. Of course, if you 
have money, they are easily cleared again ; but on this rainy day and 
in the case of this particular pauper there seemed great need of haste. 
Much impatience on the part of the grave-digger was shown in lan- 
guage with which the Chinaman soon becomes familiar, and John’^ 
was very unceremoniously lodged in his narrow house, much after the 
fashion in which a ship’s cargo is sent down the gang-plank into the 
hold. The importuning of the attendants was of no avail, and finally, 
in silent astonishment, they watched the hole fast filling up through 
the vigorous efforts of the grave-digger, who worked as though he 
feared the ghost might rise up and further defraud him of his rights. 
The last shovelful of earth went on with an air of satisfaction, for one 
more John” was under-ground. The bewildered attendants scrambled 
into the express,” and until they were lost to view I saw them wist- 
fully looking back, while I wondered what my feelings would have 
been had my dead been so rudely snatched from me. I remonstrated 
with the grave-digger, who passionately declared that women and 


544 


TWO CHINESE FUNERALS. 


children go hungry because the Chinaman does as good work as he 
and at much lower wages ; that he lives on rice, sleeps with the rats in 
a cellar, and leaves not one cent of his earnings or an improvement 
after him : all he makes goes to China through the boss,’^ for whom 
he is no less than a slave : the Chinaman cares nothing for me and 
my welfare, — why should I care for him ? But ^tis time I break up 
this other picnic going on in my grounds/^ 

The wealthy merchant, not a hundred feet away, lay in state, 
wrapped in the finest and softest silk that China excels in making. 
The rest upon which an elaborate casket leaned was draped with 
heavily embroidered silk, and over him a canopy of equal richness 
hung. Now and again weird strains of music seemed as a signal for 
the various parts of the strange programme. Quantities of steeped 
tea, served in exquisite china, were from time to time passed among 
the women, who, on their knees about the deceased, alternately drank 
from their cups and wept and wailed. The prophet Confucius forbade 
a display of grief, but, contrary to his instructions, wailing women^^ 
are employed thus to mourn the dead and with cry and shriek to 
celebrate his virtues. 

The band, a conspicuous element in the scene, consisted of three 
wind instruments resembling our flute, and a pair of cymbals at least 
one and a half feet in diameter, which, if not calculated to drown the 
rest of the so-called music, did most effectually do so whenever brought 
into use. Each musician gave a sort of solo, and as he entered into 
the spirit of his theme seemed almost to grow gay, stepping about in 
lively fashion as though in the figures of some dance. At the con- 
clusion of his part he would retire, and another would step forward to 
pay his tribute. 

The musical instruments are of such whimsical form as nearly to 
defy description, though they resemble in outline our flute and violin ; 
and the sound which they produce being an almost unheard-of sound 
to us, we have no English term that will adequately express it. 
Chinese music has a sort of softness and melancholy in its tones that 
sometimes pleases; but it is so intolerably monotonous that if pro- 
longed it becomes exceedingly irritating to the nerves. They have no 
semitones ; indeed, they seem only to blow into the instrument or twang 
strings at random from the inspiration of the moment. However, it 
appears they have notes, though their compositions are not of much 
scientific value. You sometimes hear something like simple melody, 
not unlike that which runs through the chants of savages. 

The closing scene may be said to consist of four acts : that of the 
mourners taking separate leave of their friend, each apparently trying 
to outdo the other in loud lamentation ; that of gathering together all 
the silk and china and packing away the musical instruments ; that of 
the undertaker and the son of Erin still further removing the traces, 
until only a mound marks the scene ; and that of the feast spread over 
the grave. And it would be an elaborate menu that should include 
the substantials and delicacies calculated to nourish the spirit while it 
lingers about the body awaiting the resurrection. 

Beulah Carey -Gronlund, 


JOE RIOGLER^S ROMANCE. 


545 


JOE BIGGLEES ROMANCE. 

H OW a matrimonial sheet found its way into Blue Gulch was a 
mystery. There was one thing certain : Joe Riggler was not 
responsible for its advent into that rude and wife- forsaken region. 
That modest and obviously taciturn prospector of a young but fruitful 
territory had never even heard of this simple and expeditious method 
of solving Nature’s complicated puzzle, and was plodding indifferently 
along over a most unromantic stretch of dry grass and cobble-stones, 
philosophizing on the advisability of baked beans and hash or of slap- 
jacks and fried pork as the more suitable refreshment for Captain 
Strong’s mining camp on this particular night. He was rather in 
favor of the hash and beans so far as he was concerned, but he re- 
membered that Pete Todkins had inadvertently remarked the night 
previous that beans wuz all right in their place, Boston, fer instance, 
but there wuz such a thing ez their bein’ overdid and it further 
occurred to him, as a still more forcible argument, that the beans 
wuz runnin’ low.” He might have continued to philosophize on such 
momentous questions as this for the remainder of his eventful career, 
or, in the vernacular to which he was more accustomed, until he 
^Svunk out;” but just at the instant when he made the final decision 
in favor of Tod kins’s preferences and in sacrifice of his own, a news- 
paper, torn and discolored from long flirting with the wind, flung 
itself, as with a last mighty effort towards recognition, into the sturdy 
miner’s face, and dropped at his feet. 

Afterwards, when the natural sequence of events had passed and 
time had stretched out sufficiently into the future to allow Joe to return 
to his former philosophical view of life, he came to the stupendous 
conclusion that it was Fate. But that was afterwards. Now, he 
simply picked up the inofiensive-looking sheet, bent and rolled and 
slapped it into as small a compass as possible, and stuflPed it with con- 
siderable force into the capacious pocket of his threadbare and mud- 
bespattered pantaloons. Why he should have been sufficiently inter- 
ested to preserve the stray vender of Cupid’s wares, he could hardly 
have told : he was blissfully unconscious of its purpose, for he had riot 
even glanced at a head-line : he might have had some ill-defined notion 
of its usefulness as a rouser of the shanty fire, which occasionally gave 
evidence of unmistakable stubbornness : or he may have thought of it 
as a curiosity worth presenting to the camp, since a newspaper had 
never before been seen within the limits of Blue Gulch. He certainly 
had no intention of reading it. 

In the long enrolment of events which Joe subsequently set down 
to the account of Fate, he gave precedence, both as to time and im- 
portance, to the fact that he got the supper that night. Had it been 
Pete Todkins’s or Lafe Dickson’s or Lanky Jake’s turn to prepare the 
evening meal, Joe would have stayed up the gulch washing sand until 
dark, and one or other of the aforesaid worthies would, fortunately or 
VoL. LIX.— 35 


546 


JOE RIGGLER’S ROMANCE, 


unfortunately as the case might prove, have discovered the portentous 
document which Joe carried so complacently in his trousers-pocket, 
and, in consequence, deprived our hero of his romance by quietly 
assuming the primal position himself. 

Joe got the supper, and, another fateful thing, Joe got it early. 
He had to wait for the boys. In waiting, he sat down on the tri- 
angular rock that served as a door-step to Captain Strong’s mansion, 
and leaned his back against a convenient post. Something conflicted 
with his position as one of perfect ease, and, on investigation, he drew 
forth from the depths of the before-described pocket the well-pressed 
periodical which Fate had facetiously placed there. He flung it on 
the ground with a condemnatory ejaculation not commonly reported in 
refined circles, and then, calmly lighting his pipe, resumed his former 
position against the post. 

As the aromatic clouds rose higher and higher above his head and 
enveloped him in their tranquillizing redolence, his eyes wandered up 
and down the gulch and around the camp, and finally, with as much 
indifference as they had lent to any one of the familiar objects of the 
locality, rested placidly on the much despised Heart’s Counsellor.” 

Marriage Made E ,” in large type, lay directly before his vision. 

As Joe carelessly spelled out the words and slowly comprehended their 
significance, his masculine curiosity was aroused. He picked up the 
paper, unfolded it with greater deference than he had previously 
thought necessary to expend upon it, and resigned himself to a studied 
perusal of its fascinating contents. 

Marriage Made Easy.” Under this alluring head-line ran column 
after column of solicitations for correspondence. Joe worked his way 
slowly through three or four advertisements for a wife, dumfounded at 
the audacity of the thing, and then he came to the following interest- 
ing paragraph : 

am just nineteen, and, my friends say, pretty. Have large 
dark-brown eyes and wavy brown hair. Would like the acquaintance 
of a Western gentleman of means. Object matrimony. Molly. Ad- 
dress 999 ‘ Heart’s Counsellor.’ ” 

No doubt there were any number of girls of superior attractions 
described in the columns that followed, but Joe did not get below 
Molly’s modest notice. He read it over again, slowly and carefully. 

^‘Hum. Wants to get married,” he thought, audibly. ‘^So that’s 
the way they do things nowadays. World’s progressin’, I’m a-thinkin’, 
since I lost myself in Blue Gulch. And she wants a Western gentle- 
man. Wonder if she ever heard of Blue Gulch.” 

Then he stopped. What he thought after that did not shape itself 
into words. Approaching voices warned him that the caterer of Cap- 
tain Strong’s mining camp was neglecting his duties. He thrust the 
Heart’s Counsellor” again into his accommodating pocket, and pro- 
ceeded to serve the grub.” 

At daybreak the next morning a thin, raw-boned excuse for a horse 
might have been seen picking its way through the defiles of the circui- 
tous route that led up out of Blue Gulch to Latah City. Lest the 
reader imagine a thickly populated community, I will state that Latah 


JOE RIGGLER’S ROMANCE, 


547 


City at this time consisted of a post-office with drug-store attached, 
three saloons, and a blacksmith-shop. There was some talk of a pro- 
vision-store, but it had not yet materialized. 

The rider of the horse seemed lost in profound meditation. A 
dark scowl lent a decidedly savage look to a face not prepossessing 
under the happiest of conditions, and the spurs frequently pressed into 
the scrawny flanks of the worn-out steed indicated a restless, impatient 
frame of mind. 

Yet this early morning traveller was not plotting murder or rob- 
bery, or even the jumping of a brother miner’s claim. It was simply 
Joe Higgler studying out the proper wording of a very important 
missive. 

He was greeted at the entrance of the city with loud shouts of 
welcome from the three representatives of the main institutions of the 
place, but he rode indifferently by, greatly to the astonishment of his 
would-be hosts. 

Must be expectin’ a letter,” was the flnal verdict as he drew up 
in front of the post-office and alighted. He remained inside fully 
an hour, then rushed out, jumped on his waiting beast, and galloped 
past the open-mouthed saloon-keepers as if on an errand of life or 
death. 

In the course of the forenoon first one and then another of the 
astonished citizens strolled over to the post-office and inquired casu- 
ally if Joe got his letter. The postmaster said he guessed not, and 
vouchsafed the information that he believed Joe mailed one. 

Joe was as ^^glum as an owl,” as Lanky Jake expressed it, for a 
week after his return from Latah City. There was considerable con- 
jecture in the camp concerning that early morning ride, but Joe’s 
manner did not encourage inquisitiveness, and it was finally set down 
to a sudden and uncontrollable fit of thirst, with which the miners 
were sometimes afflicted, and was soon forgotten. 

Some three weeks had elapsed, when Joe’s horse was again missing 
from Captain Strong’s stables and Joe did not appear at breakfast. 
Towards noon the short-winded steed came wheezing into Blue Gulch 
and drew up near the point where Pete Todkins was cradling out sand. 
Joe’s face was radiant with smiles, or, as Todkins that night informed 
the camp, he looked ez good-natered ez a chipmunk.” Pete did not 
hesitate to address him. 

Hello, Joe. Where yer ben ter?” 

‘^Post-office.” 

“ Git a letter ?” 

“ Yes.” 

“Good news?” 

“Y^es.” 

“Somebody died and left you a pile?” 

“ No.” 

Several other questions failed to elicit further information. 

The mysterious trips to Latah City continued at intervals of three 
or four weeks all summer. Joe would occasionally let drop some 
obscure remark that greatly aroused the curiosity of the camp and was 


548 


JOE RIO GLEE’S ROMANCE. 


the cause of considerable comment. If asked to take a drink, which 
of course involved a return treat, he invariably answered, Can’t do 
it, pard. Got ter save me dust.” A total abstainer in Blue Gulch 
was a novel phenomenon. 

Towards the latter part of the summer Joe struck it rich.” With 
every addition of the yellow dust the change in him became more 
apparent. One night he astonished the camp by the announcement 
that he was ‘‘goin’ to lay off” the next day. Still more astounded 
were they, on returning at night, to discover that a new shanty had 
been added to the colony. After that Joe had no more time to sit 
around the fire and play seven-up” and listen to Sailor Bill’s sea 
yarns. Every evening was spent in the shanty, driving nails and 
whittling out knobs for the odd little cupboards made ready for the 
reception of imaginary viands cooked by dainty fingers. 

Notwithstanding the fact that Joe kept his own counsel, the 
mysterious shanty established the belief that he was going to ‘‘git 
spliced,” and when Joe asked the loan of Captain Strong’s “hack” 
for a trip to Littleton, and returned three days later with a load of 
provisions and tinware and crockery, the like of which had never been 
seen within the confines of Blue Gulch, the belief became a fixed 
certainty. 

Finally the curiosity of the camp to know the exact condition of 
affairs became intolerable. If a woman was coming to Blue Gulch, 
Blue Gulch wanted to know it. Pete Todkins, as more particularly 
Joe’s partner in fortunes, was appointed a committee of one to in- 
vestigate. 

That night Todkins called upon the perplexing miner in the dignity 
of his new quarters, and, without an apology, walked in and took a 
seat. Joe was perched on a trestle, vigorously driving in a row of 
nails for the future accommodation of sundry feminine garments, and 
whistling. 

“ Seems ter me yer gittin’ wonderful select,” ventured Pete. 

“Yes,” Joe replied, good-humoredly. 

“ The old camp ain’t good enough fer you.” 

“ No — aw — the camp’s all right.” 

Pete pulled himself together and struck out boldly. “ Some of 
the boys air sayin’ that yer goin’ ter git spliced.” 

Joe grinned knowingly. 

A dead silence; then Joe grew confidential. 

“I tell yer what ’tis, Pete,” he said. “A man gits tired o’ livin’ 
unless he’s got somebody that sorter belongs to him and depends on 
him to take care on ’em. What’s the use o’ pannin’ out dust all yer 
life if nobody but Jim Clark gits the benefit of it?” (Jim Clark was 
the proprietor of Latah City’s most popular resort.) “ I’m tired of 
it. Thet’s all I’ve got ter say. I’m tired of it.” And all Todkins’s 
carefully premeditated inquiries failed to draw out further definite 
information. 

But after that Joe was somewhat less reserved in the camp, and 
occasionally remarked that he “ wouldn’t hev to cook his own grub 
much longer,” or, he “ pitied the feller thet hed to sew on his own 


JOE EIGOLER’S ROMANCE. 549 

buttons all his life/’ or, it was much more comfurt’ble livin’ in a 
house you could call yer own, specially if you hev good company.” 

In the latter part of October Joe came home from one of his early 
morning trips to Latah City in unusually hilarious spirits. He shook 
hands with the boys all around and told them to congratulate him, but 
when they asked What for?” he simply grinned and said it was ^‘all 
right.” 

That night he again asked Captain Strong for the loan of his 
‘Miack,” and if the camp had been up in time the next morning it 
would have had fresh cause for astonishment in the appearance of Joe 
Higgler in store clothes. But by the time the most industrious gold- 
washer was astir Joe was far on his way to Littleton. 

Littleton did not possess a railroad. It did possess a steamboat, 
which once in three days brought provisions and occasional passengers 
from up the river. Joe arrived five hours before the steamer was due, 
and nearly worried the life out of the inexperienced agent, recently 
sent on from Boston, in his effort to kill time. He was strongly 
tempted to celebrate the occasion by going on a spree ; but he abandoned 
that idea as unworthy the store clothes and the expected arrival. So 
he stood around the docks, when the gentleman from Boston succeeded 
in evading him, and waited. 

Noon passed by unnoticed. Joe couldn’t eat under such a burden 
of suspense and expectation. Three o’clock came, and he gazed eagerly 
up the river for a glimpse of the Winona. No boat in sight. He 
walked back to the Boston head-quarters, and inquired, in as off-hand 
a manner as his dejected spirits would allow, ‘‘ Didn’t yer say that 
steamboat would be here at three o’clock ?” 

Yes. Want a ticket ?” 

No, but she ain’t here.” 

^‘Well, don’t worry, old man,” said the agent, condescendingly; 
she’ll be along directly.” 

Joe hurried back to the landing, fearful of missing the first glimpse 
of the Winona as she rounded the bend. Twenty minutes or so more, 
and he was rewarded by a puff of blue smoke, immediately followed 
by the shrill scream of the whistle, and the Winona steamed leisurely 
into sight. 

I’m as narvous as that brown filly o’ Clark’s,” Joe muttered. 
Guess I better not act quite so anxious.” And he strolled over to 
the station and tried to content himself with a view from a distance. 
But when the Winona was securely tied to the dock and the boat-hands 
had begun to trundle off her cargo, with no sign of a feminine pas- 
senger, Joe could stand it no longer. 

He returned to the landing and started in search of the captain, 
when a smooth-faced, stylishly attired young gentleman appeared over 
the gang-plank. 

Tenderfoot, and a young one et that,” was Joe’s half-muttered 
comment as he passed. 

A second later, before Joe succeeded in getting an audience with 
the captain, the stranger touched him on the arm. 

Are you Joseph Higgler?” 


550 


JOE RTOGLER S ROMANCE. 


Thetis my oame/^ 

Joseph Riggler of Blue Gulch 

You^re right/^ 

You were expecting a friend on this boat?^^ 

Joe drew back amazed. 

How in thunderation did you know thet?’^ 

The stranger^s countenance showed some signs of embarrassment as 
he repeated, nervously, You said your name was Joseph Riggler, — 
Joe Riggler.^^ 

Yes, d — n you. How many times do you hev to be told 

Well,^^ said the stranger, with a cumulative effort, I^m Molly. 
Joe staggered back a pace, and his long, lank arms with their bony 
extremities hung lifeless at his sides. His under jaw dropped ; his 
pale blue eyes took on a look half indignant and half idiotic as the 
knowledge slowly dawned upon his dull comprehension. Finally he 
recovered enough to inquire, weakly, What yer givin’ me?’^ 

The truth, pure and unadulterated.’^ Then, seeing a menacing 
glare appear between Joe’s sandy lashes, he continued, hurriedly, See 
here, Mr. Riggler. It’s this way. I’m going to make a clean breast 
of the whole affair, and then if you choose to annihilate me on the 
spot you are at liberty to do so. I didn’t inherit a fortune, and there 
was no chance of my making one back East without a pull. I wanted 
to come West awfully, and I didn’t have the requisite cash, and when 
you offered to send it on I couldn’t resist taking it. I didn’t think 
of such a thing when I began the correspondence. That personal I 
inserted just for fun, to see how many answers I would get; but when 
your first letter came it was so strikingly original — different from the 
common run, you know — that I thought I would keep it up awhile. 
Then came your offer to pay my expenses out here, and I took you up. 
But you needn’t think I intended to defraud you of that money. I 
shall pay back every cent as soon as I can earn it. I’m going to stay 
right here in Littleton ” 

Not much,” Joe growled. The young fellow trembled and looked 
anxiously at the hand concealed under the swallow-tails of the store 
clothes. He waited, expectant. 

Not much,” Joe repeated. You’re goin’ to Blue Gulch with Joe 
Higgler, and you’re goin’ ter cook Joe’s grub and sew on Joe’s buttons 
and take care o’ thet shanty I fixed up fer you. Do you s’pose I’m 
goin’ ter hev the hull o’ Bill Strong’s minin’ camp laughin’ in their 
sleeves at my expense? Not by a blamed sight. You’re goin’ along 
with me, and I’ll interduce you as my nevvy from the East, and then 
Pete Todkins, who’s ben so sure o’ my gittin’ spliced, ’ll think the joke’s 
on him. Pile into thet hack there.” And the glittering end of an 
ominous-looking something appeared from under the swallow-tails. 

Blue Gulch never quite recovered from its disappointed surmises. 
From the day of Joe Higgler’s return with his nevvy,” he was held 
in highest esteem as the only man w^ho had ever been able to fool the 
hull d — d camp.” 


jElsie A. Robinson. 


ANIMAL CANNONEERS AND SHARP-SHOOTERS. 


551 


ANIMAL CANNONEERS AND SHARP-SHOOTERS. 

A lthough the animals concerning which I wish to write in this 
paper do not use powder and ball in charging their weapons, they 
do use materials which, if not so deadly, are yet very efficient missiles. 
I am inclined to believe that the Chinese borrowed one of their defen- 
sive as well as offensive weapons, the stink-pot, from one of the lower 
animals, — namely, the bombardier beetle. 

I well remember that, when a lad, I once experienced the over- 
powering effects of a Chinese stink-pot which had been brought from 
China by a missionary. This gentleman, who was a practical joker, 
ignited this instrument of barbaric warfare and placed it on a table in 
the hall of the house where I happened to be visiting. In a very few 
moments the house was emptied of all its inhabitants, who fled, cough- 
ing and strangling, out into the open air. 

I remember distinctly that I likened the effluvia that escaped from 
this horrible weapon to the odor of the stink-bug,^’ an insect belong- 
ing to a family {Pentatomidee) genera of which exist throughout the 
entire world. 

Professor Comstock pleasantly calls attention to this family of 
animal bombardiers in the following words : To those who live in 
cities it may always remain a mystery why one berry, looking just like 
another, should taste and smell so differently ; but all barefooted boys 
and sunbonneted girls from the country who have picked the wild 
strawberries on the hill-sides or scratched their hands and faces in rasp- 
berry patches know well the angular green or brown bugs that leave a 
loathsome trail behind them ; and they will tell you, too, that the bugs 
themselves are worse than their trail, for it is a lucky youngster that has 
not taken one of these insects into his mouth by mistake with a handful 
of berries.^^ 

The common brown bombardier, stink-bug, or sour-bug, is an 
animal of no little intelligence, as any one who has watched its ma- 
noeuvres when in the presence of an enemy will readily admit. On 
such an occasion the bombardier reminds one of a man-of-war that is 
manoeuvring for a favorable position when about to engage in a naval 
combat. It endeavors to keep the side of its body toward the enemy, 
for its artillery is placed on the lower side of its body, one, two, some- 
times three, small weapons on each side. When the enemy has come 
within range, this astute little warrior elevates the side of its body that 
is next to its foe, thus bringing its guns to bear, and then fires a broad- 
side of acrid, ill-smelling fluid at its opponent. If its molester still 
continues its attacks, the bombardier will quickly turn, elevate its other 
side, and fire its remaining broadside. The stink-bug is commonly 
victorious at its first volley ; but sometimes the enemy is persistent and 
continues to harass this insect hurler of stink-pots until the creature 
exhausts all its ammunition. What does it do then? It resorts to a 
subterfuge that is practised by many other animals, even by man him- 


552 


ANIMAL CANNONEERS AND SHARP-SHOOTERS, 


self : it feigns death. It draws its legs beneath its body, retracts its 
antennae, and sinks to the ground, to all appearance as dead as Shake- 
speare’s famous door-nail. Its foe, believing that it is dead, abandons it, 
for it seems a silly and useless procedure to maltreat and mutilate a dead 
opponent. The cunning stink-bug, as soon as its enemy departs, comes 
to life, and in a half-hour is ready for another combat, so quickly does 
it acquire another supply of ammunition. The bombardier’s cannon 
are small glands situated on the lower side of the body near the mid- 
dle legs. These glands secrete an acrid, fetid fluid, which by a volun- 
tary effort of the animal is ejaculated at its enemy. 

A South American bombardier takes precedence, however, of all 
insect cannoneers, inasmuch as its broadsides are accompanied by both 
sound and smoke. Mr. Westwood, a distinguished English entomolo- 
gist, quotes Burchell as stating that‘^ while resting for the night on the 
banks of one of the large South American rivers, he went out with a 
lantern to make an astronomical observation, accompanied by one of 
his black servant boys; and as they were proceeding, their attention 
was directed to numerous beetles running about upon the shore, which, 
when captured, proved to be specimens of a large species of Brachinus. 
On being seized, they immediately began to play otf their artillery, 
burning and staining the flesh to such a degree that only a few speci- 
mens could be captured with the naked hand, leaving a mark which 
remained a considerable time. Upon observing the whitish vapor with 
which the explosions were accompanied, the negro exclaimed in his 
broken English, with evident surprise, Ah, massa, they make smoke.” 

Another beetle, belonging to a different family {Paussidse), is an 
accomplished cannoneer. This insect has been described by Captain 
Boyes, an English naturalist, who noticed that it discharged a fluid 
acidulous in scent and having caustic properties. The discharges were 
accompanied by sound and vapor. Says he, A circumstance so re- 
markable induced me to determine its truth, for which purpose I kept 
it” (a Paussus) “ alive till the next morning, and, in order to certify 
myself of the fact, the following experiments were resorted to. Having 
prepared some test-paper by coloring it with a few petals of a deep red 
oleander, I gently turned the Paussus over it, and immediately placed 
my finger on the insect, at which time I distinctly heard a crepitation, 
which was repeated in a few seconds on the pressure being renewed, and 
each discharge was accompanied by a vapor-like steam, which was 
emitted to the distance of half an inch, and attended by a very strong 
and penetrating odor of nitric acid.” 

But the strangest cannoneer in the entire animal kingdom is a naked 
mollusk called onchidium. It inhabits the sea-shores of China and 
Japan, of the Malayan Archipelago, of North Australia, and of East 
Africa. This animal is shell-less, but its back is covered by a coria- 
ceous or leather-like integument. The cephalic or head eyes of on- 
chidium differ in no ways from those of allied groups, but its dorsal 
eyes (and it commonly has from twelve to sixty, one species having 
even as large a number as eighty, according to Lubbock ; another 
species, according to Semper, has ninety-eight) are identical, as far as 
type is concerned, with those of vertebrate animals. These dorsal eyes 


ANIMAL CANNONEERS AND SHARP-SHOOTERS. 


553 


have corneae, retinae, and lenses, anterior and posterior chambers, and 
‘^blind-spots/^ The “ blind-spo/^ is peculiarly characteristic of the 
vertebrate eye : the optic nerve pierces the external layer of the retina; 
hence at this point sight is absent. 

Now, of what use are these twelve, sixty, or ninety-eight eyes in the 
back of this creature, staring up, as they do, in all directions? They 
must subserve some useful purpose, otherwise they would not be present; 
and they do, as I shall now endeavor to show. 

Wherever you find the onchidium you will be certain to observe 
likewise a very peculiar fish whose family name is Periophthalmus. This 
fish has the habit of leaving the water and coming out on shore, where 
it seeks its food, being enabled by its long ventral fins to make its way 
over the sands very rapidly in successive leaps, and onchidium is its 
favorite food. The coriaceous back of this mollusk contains a multi- 
tude of glands which secrete a thick, tenacious substance, almost a con- 
cretion, in fact. In some preserved specimens that I examined not 
long ago, the contents of these glands were concretions, resembling 
minute shot. The preserving fluid, however, may have been instru- 
mental in hardening the contents of the glands. The integumental 
pores of these glands are exceedingly small. Now, when Periophthal- 
mus comes leaping over the sands, bounding several inches into the air 
at each leap, the staring dorsal eyes of onchidium catch sight of the 
enemy. Immediately the mollusk contracts the coriaceous skin of its 
back and discharges thousands of viscous pellets from its dorsal glands 
at its foe. Periophthalmus, now alarmed and dismayed (overwhelmed, 
as it were, by this shower of shot from a masked battery), turns and 
flees for its life, and the watchful onchidium is saved from a deplorable 
fate. Periophthalmus itself is a very uncanny-looking creature, with 
its pair of great staring eyes situated in the top of its head. As it 
leaps along the sea-shore, using its ventral fins as legs, it looks like 
some strange goblin from the depths of the ocean, that has come ashore 
on mischief bent. No wonder onchidium greets it with a shower of 
shot. 

There are several families of very proficient sharp-shooters among 
the lower animals ; the most expert, however, of them all is to be 
found in a family of fishes genera of which are found in several locali- 
ties both of the Old and the New World. These fishes are wonderful 
marksmen, and seldom fall to bring down the object at which they aim. 
Their weapons are their long, peculiarly-shaped muzzles, and their bul- 
lets are drops of water. The fish, after sighting its quarry, slowly 
swims to a favorable position within range ; it then rises to the surface, 
protrudes its muzzle, and, taking rapid aim, zip ! fires its water bullet 
and knocks its prey into the river. The struggling insect is gobbled 
down instanter, and the fish then proceeds in search of other game. 

On one occasion, while I was watching some catfish that were swim- 
ming close to the shores of a pond, one of them gave a sudden flirt 
with its tail, thereby throwing a shower of water on a wasp which was 
busily engaged in digging out a pellet of clay. This unexpected down- 
pour washed the wasp into the pond, whereupon it was immediately 
snapped up by the wily catfish. Whether or not this tragedy was the 


554 


MATRIMONIAL DIVINATIONS, 


result of deliberate premeditation on the part of the fish I am not 
prepared to state ; yet, taking everything into consideration, I firmly 
believe that it was. 

The llama of South America is an expert marksman, though it 
never uses its craft in the procurement of its food. Only when annoyed 
and angry does it give an exhibition of its wonderful skill in hitting 
the object aimed at. Tiie llama’s weapon is its mouth : its bullet is 
composed of saliva and chewed hay. 

Several years ago, at the Fair Grounds in St. Louis, I witnessed an 
exhibition of this creature’s powers of expectoration, in which the victim 
was a country beau, who came very near losing his sweetheart thereby. 
This young man was one of those self-sufiicient individuals who imagine 
that knowledge sits enthroned in the temples of their own personal 
intellects ; that what they do not know is not worth knowing.” He 
was annoying the llama (the animal stood in the centre of its pen, 
probably fifteen feet or more from its tormentor) by throwing clods of 
dirt at it and by beating on the rails of the pen with his cane. 

I saw by the creature’s actions that it was angry ; the rapid move- 
ments of its jaws indicated that it was preparing to attack its perse- 
cutor. I warned the young man, telling him what to expect; his 
sweetheart begged him to desist and to come away. But he treated my 
warning with derision, and told the girl that he knew his business.” 
Suddenly there came a whizzing, whistling noise, followed by a sharp 
spat : the young wiseacre lay supine upon his back with his eyes and 
forehead plastered with a disgusting mixture of saliva, hay, and 
mucus. 

I hate a fool !” said the girl, as she shouldered her parasol and 
walked away. 

I saw them again in the monkey-house some time afterward, but 
the man was a changed being : he had learned his lesson in decorum ; 
he had been taught modesty by the good marksmanship of a llama. 

James Weir, Jr, 


MATRIMONIAL DIVINATIONS, 

D UMB-CAKE, a mystical ceremony whose origin is lost, is still a 
popular and much trusted form of matrimonial investigation, and 
special days are specially favored for this process of divination. Hal- 
loween (October 31) and St. John’s Eve (June 23) are the universally 
popular choice, but on St. Agnes’ Eve (January 20), St. Valentine’s 
Eve (February 13), St. Mark’s Eve (April 24), or St. Faith’s Eve (Oc- 
tober 6) one can also bake the dumb-cake with potent effect. It is to 
be concocted and employed thus. The party of girls must number 
three, and absolute silence must prevail through the whole of the 
operation. 

Two make it, 

Two bake it, 

Two break it. 


MATRIMONIAL DIVINATIONS, 


555 


At midnight each maid eats a portion of the cake and takes a portion 
in her hand, walks to bed backward, and sleeps with the dumb-cake 
under her pillow. Of course she sees plainly in her dreams her future 
husband. On St. Faith^s Day the custom somewhat varies: the cake 
must be made of water, flour, sugar, and salt. The cake must be turned 
three times by each person during the baking. It is then divided 
into long strips and passed through a wedding-ring borrowed from a 
woman who has been married at least seven years. All this in silence, 
but as the husband-hunter eats her dumb-cake she says, — 

O good St. Faith, be kind to-night, 

And bring to me my heart’s delight. 

Let me my future husband view. 

And be my vision chaste and true.” 

Then all three maids get into bed together with the wedding-ring tied 
to the head of the bed. Three widows can also try this charm. 

In the Journal of the Young Lady of Virginia^^ we find the gay 
group of young Southern beauties, with much fear and trembling, eating 
the ^^dum-cake’^ in Mr. Washington’s house. 

On various saints’ days vast opportunity was given for matrimonial 
divination. In ^‘Aubrey’s Miscellanies” we read, — 

The women have several magical secrets handed down to them by 
tradition, as on Saint Agnes’ night, 21st January. Take a row of pins 
and pull out every one, one after another, saying a Pater Noster, sticking 
a pin in your sleeve, and you will dream of him or her you shall marry. 
You must be in another county, and knit the left garter about the right- 
legg’d stockin (let the other garter and stockin alone), and as you 
rehearse these following verses, at every comma knit a knot : 

^ This knot I knit. 

To know the thing I know not yet. 

That I may see 

The man that shall my husband be, 

How he goes and what he wears, 

And what he does all the days.’ 

Accordingly in your dream you will see him, if a musician, with a 
lute or other instrument; if a scholar, with a book,” and so on. 

Another dream-charm for St. Agnes’ Eve was to take a sprig of 
rosemary and another of thyme and sprinkle them thrice with water, 
then place one in each shoe, and stand shoe and sprig on either side of 
the bed, repeating, — 

‘^St. Agnes, that’s to lovers kind, 

Come ease the trouble of my mind.” 

In many places the notion prevailed that to insure the perfection of 
these charms the day must be spent fasting. It was called St. Agnes’ 
fast.” 

Keats’s beautiful lines commemorative of the day seem doubly 
exquisite when read after conning the clumsy folk-rhymes : 


556 


HER PORTION, 


They told me how upon St. Agnes^ Eve 
Young virgins might have visions of delight, 

And soft adorings from their loves receive 
Upon the honey’d middle of the night, 

If ceremonies due they did aright : 

As supperless to bed they must retire 
And couch supine their beauties lily white; 

Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require 
Of heaven, with upward eyes, for all that they desire. 

In Scotland the lasses sow grain at midnight on St. Agnes’ Eve, sing- 
iiig — 

“ Agnes sweet and Agnes fair. 

Hither, hither now repair. 

Bonny Agnes, let me see 
The lad who is to marry me.” 

And the figure of the future sweetheart appears as if reaping the 
grain. 

I cannot recall ever having seen in my school-days any matrimonial 
divining tests save one. It was this. A key was placed in the Bible 
at the second chapter of Solomon’s Song, verses 16 and 17, and the 
book tied firmly together, with the handle of the key left beyond the 
edges of the leaves. The tips of the little finger of the charm-tester 
and of a friend were placed under the side of the key, and then they 
tried the alphabet” with the verses above named : that is, they began 
thus : A. My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feedeth among 
the lilies. Until the day break and the shadows fall away, turn, my 
beloved,” etc. At the word turn” the Bible was supposed to turn 
around if A were the first letter of the lover’s name. Tims could the 
entire name be spelt out. I am sure I was not more than eight years 
old when I saw this charm tried, but I distinctly recall the uncanny 
chill I felt when the Bible slowly turned and fell from the fingers of 
the girls who were trying the alphabet.” 

I have since learned that when we thus turned the Bible” we were 
practising theomancy, — one of the fifty-three varieties of necromantic 
art enumerated in an old book, — two others being pyromancy, charms 
through the use of fire, and botonomancy, through the use of herbs 
and flowers. 

Alice Morse Earle. 


HER PORTION. 

L ove called, and, half reluctant, she put by 
Her maiden dream, as child a broken toy, 
And, hearkening to that far, sweet, thrilling cry. 
Gave up her conscious, trembling self to Joy. 

But Sorrow plucked her sleeve : Let be : 

Thou art a woman ; thou art pledged to me !” 

Nora C. Franklin. 


A GLIMPSE OF OLD PHILADELPHIA. 


557 


A GLIMPSE OF OLD PHILADELPHIA. 

I^EARLY one hundred and fifty years ago, certain Swedish scientists, 
XN including the famous Dr. Linnaeus, proposed to send out one of 
their number to study the then little-known plants of North America, 
with the object of discovering whether many might not be naturalized 
in Sweden. The man chosen for this mission was Peter Kalm, Pro- 
fessor of (Economy in the University of Abo in Swedish Finland, and 
a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences.^’ 

He spent nearly three years in America, and collected much valu- 
able information, not only on plants and animals, but also on the civil, 
ecclesiastical, and commercial state of the country.^^ Some of his 
observations are very curious, and the whole account of his travels, 
which was translated into English in 1770, throws a strong light on 
the changed conditions of life since he visited America. For instance, 
he mentions that they were becalmed on the voyage across the Atlantic, 
and adds (I quote from the above-mentioned translation), as we in this 
situation observed a ship, which we suspected to be a Spanish privateer, 
our fear was very great ; but we saw, some days after our arrival at 
Philadelphia, the same ship arrive, and heard that they, seeing us, had 
been under the same apprehensions with ourselves.^^ 

He congratulated himself on reaching Philadelphia in forty-one 
days from the time he left Gravesend, saying that in winter the passage 
often consumed fourteen weeks, or even more. 

At that date Philadelphia was the second city in America, being 
larger than New York. Kalm could not obtain exact information as 
to its population, but believed that it very considerably exceeded ten 
thousand. The houses, however, had recently been counted, and 
numbered two thousand and seventy-six. 

He seemed to be much astonished at the number of immigrants 
who arrived in the town. Many of them were so poor that they had 
not money enough to pay their j)assage,^^ which cost from six to eight 
pounds sterling for each person. Kalm thus describes the arrangement 
by which they contrived to cross the Atlantic. They agree with the 
captain that they will sufler themselves to be sold for a few years on 
their arrival. In that case the person who buys them pays the freight 
for them; but frequently very old people come over who cannot pay 
their passage, they therefore sell their children, so that they serve both 
for themselves and their parents. . . . Such servants are taken preferable 
to all others, because they are not so dear, for to buy a negro or black 
slave requires too much money at once ; and men and maids who get 
yearly wages are likewise too dear ; but this kind of servants may be 
got for half the money, and even less.^^ 

It was said that in 1749 nearly twelve thousand Germans came to 
Philadelphia, many staying in the town ; but it seems difficult to recon- 
cile this statement with the estimates of the population. However, it 
has not been necessary,^^ remarks Kalm, ^^to force people to come to 


558 


A GLIMPSE OF OLD PHILADELPHIA. 


settle here ; on the contrary, foreigners of different languages have left 
their country, houses, and relations, and have ventured over wide and 
stormy seas to come hither/^ 

The toleration shown for all forms of religion seemed to our 
traveller to account in a large measure for the great influx of people. 

Every one who acknowledges God to be the Creator, Preserver, and 
Ruler of all things, and teaches or undertakes nothing against the 
state, or against the common peace, is at liberty to settle, stay, and 
carry on his trade, be his religious principles ever so strange.^^ 

At that time Germantown was quite separate from Philadelphia, 
and the professor records taking a ride of six English miles to visit 
that village, of which, he says, most of the inhabitants were manu- 
facturers. 

According to his notions, the streets of Philadelphia were fine and 
regular. ‘‘Some are paved,^^ he remarks, “others are not, and it seems 
less necessary since the ground is sandy, and soon absorbs the wet. 
But in most of the streets is a pavement of flags, a fathom or more 
broad, laid before the houses, and posts put on the outside three or four 
fathoms asunder/^ 

“ The houses make a good appearance, are frequently several stories 
high, and built either of bricks or stone, but the former are more 
commonly used, since bricks are made before the town, and are well 
burnt/^ Frequently, when stone was used, it w^as not cut into shape, 
but irregular blocks of all sizes were put into the wall, and the holes 
between were filled up with mortar and smoothed over. “At last,^^ 
says Kalm, “ they draw on the outside of the wall strokes of mortar, 
which cross each other perpendicularly, so that it looks as if the 
wall consisted wholly of equal square stones, and as if the white strokes 
were the places where they were joined with mortar. The inside of the 
wall is made smooth, covered with mortar, and whitewashed. It has 
not been observed,^^ he adds, “that this kind of stone attracts the 
moisture in a rainy or wet season.’’ 

The roofs of the houses were generally covered with shingles of 
white cedar, “ but,” observes Kalm, “ many people begin to fear that 
these roofs will in time be looked upon as having been very detri- 
mental to the city. For, being so very light, most people have been led 
to make their walls extremely thin. But at present this kind of wood is 
almost entirely destroyed. Whenever, therefore, these roofs decay, the 
people will be obliged to have recourse to the heavier materials of tiles 
or the like, which the walls will not be strong enough to bear. . . . 
Several people have already in late years begun to make roofs of tiles.” 

The professor gives a particular account of the twelve churches and 
meeting-houses which Philadelphia then possessed, and adds not a little 
gossip in connection with them. In his opinion, the English established 
church was the finest, though, he remarks, “ it has a little inconsider- 
able steeple, in which is a bell to be rung when it is time to go to 
church, and on burials. It has likewise a clock that strikes the hours. 
... It has two ministers, who get the greatest part of their salary 
from England.” 

The German Lutheran church possessed a fine organ. In connec- 


A GLIMPSE OF OLD PHILADELPHIA, 


559 


tion with this church Kalm mentions a Swedish minister^ Mr. 
Dylander, who had died some years earlier. This man had been 
accustomed to preach on Sundays to German, Swedish, and English 
audiences, besides giving many addresses during the week. 

Speaking of weekday services, our traveller observes that the 
Moravian Brethren had attempted to hold a nightly service in their 
meeting-house, but were obliged to discontinue it, because some wan- 
ton young fellows^^ disturbed the congregation by an instrument 
sounding like the note of a cuckoo, for this noise they made in a dark 
corner, not only at the end of every stanza, but likewise at that of 
every line, whilst they were singing a hymn.^’ Surely the good brethren 
must in this instance have shown less than their usual determination. 

The new Presbyterian church’’ was founded by the New-Lights 
or Proselytes of Whitefield, of whom Kalm says, his delivery, his 
extraordinary zeal, and other talents so well adapted to the intellects of 
his hearers made him so popular that he frequently . . . got from eight 
thousand to twenty thousand hearers in the fields,” and this when 
Philadelphia had but ten thousand inhabitants all told ! On his arrival 
at Boston in 1744, Whitefield is said to have disputed with the Pres- 
byterians so much that he almost entirely embraced them. For he was 
no great disputant, and could therefore easily be led by these cunning 
people whithersoever they would have him.” 

Of the German Reformed churches, New and Old, the professor 
has rather a scandalous story to tell. A certain clergyman, who came 
from Holland, by his artful behavior so insinuated himself into the 
favor of the Rev. Mr, Slaughter’s congregation that the latter lost 
almost half his audience. The two clergymen then disputed for several 
Sundays together about the pulpit ; nay, people relate that the new- 
comer mounted the pulpit on a Saturday and stayed in it all night.” 
The result of this misplaced perseverance was a riot in the congregation, 
and the magistrates decided the quarrel in favor of Mr. Slaughter. 
This unfortunate gentleman hardly got the best of it, however, for his 
antagonist built a church close beside his, and still continued to draw 
away the flock. 

The English church, the New-Lights, the Quakers, and the German 
Reformed churches had separate burying-grounds out of the town, but 
the rest of the churches buried their dead in their church-yards, with 
the exception of the Moravians, who are said to ‘‘ bury where they 
can.” A separate burial-place was appointed for the negroes. 

From the bills of mortality kept in the churches, it appeared that 
the most fatal diseases were ‘^consumptions, fevers, convulsions, pleu- 
risies, haemorrhages, and dropsies.” 

Beside the long list of churches the other public buildings of 
Philadelphia make but a poor show. First Kalm mentions the Town 
Hall, which, he says, “ is the greatest ornament to the town.” There 
the deputies of the province met at least once each year “ to revise the 
old laws and to make new ones.” 

“ On one side of this building,” he continues, “ stands the library, 
which was first begun in the year 1742 on a publick-spirited plan formed 
and put in execution by the learned Mr. Franklin.” “ The most sub- 


560 


A GLIMPSE OF OLD PHILADELPHIA. 


stantial people in town^’ subscribed for the purchase of books, which 
they were free to use, but outsiders were obliged to leave a pledge, and 
to pay eightpence a week for a folio volume, sixpence for a quarto, 
and fourpence for all others of a smaller size/^ Kalm speaks grate- 
fully, however, of the kindness of the subscribers in permitting him to 
make use of the books without charge. Besides the books, the library 
contained a few mathematical and physical instruments,^^ and a col- 
lection of natural curiosities ; but it was only open on Saturdays from 
four to eight o’clock. Several little libraries were founded in the 
town on the same footing or nearly with this.” 

Another important building was that of the Academy in the western 
part of the town. ^^It was destined,” says Kalm, in a rather dispar- 
aging mood, to be the seat of an university, or, to express myself in 
more exact terms, to be a college. . . . The youths here are only taught 
those things which they learn in our common schools, but in time such 
lectures are intended to be read here as are usual in real universities.” 

The court-house was a fine building with a bell-tower. Below 
and round about this building” the market was properly kept” at 
least twice every week, and oftener in summer. It began about four 
o’clock in the morning, and ended at nine : so the Philadelphians of 
that time must have been early risers. 

Even in those days Philadelphia carried on a great trade, both 
with the inhabitants of the country and to other parts of the world,” 
and, though none but English ships were allowed to come into port, 
two hundred and seventy-three vessels arrived in 1746. 

Provisions were plentiful and cheap. On his first arrival, Kalm 
says, I took up my lodging with a grocer, who was a Quaker, and I 
met with very good honest people in this house, such as most people of 
this profession appeared to me.” He and his servant were provided 
with a room, candles, beds, attendance, and three meals a day for twenty 
shillings a week in Pennsylvania currency. But wood, washing, and 
wine were to be paid for extra. The professor mentions the good and 
clear water” in Philadelphia ^^as one of its great advantages;” for 
though there are no fountains in the town, yet there is a well in every 
house and several in the streets, all which afford excellent water for 
boiling, drinking, washing, and other uses.” 

Fuel was expensive, though Philadelphia was surrounded with 
woods. The great and high forests near the town are the property 
of some people of quality and fortune, who do not regard the money 
they could make of them,” he says. They do not fell so much as 
they require for their own use, and much less would they sell it to 
others. But they leave the trees for times to come, expecting that wood 
will become much more scarce.” The wood brought to market was 
from a distance, and everybody complained ‘‘that fuel in the space of a 
few years was risen in price to many times as much again as it had 
been.” This was accounted for by the fact that “ the town is encreased 
to such a degree as to be four or six times bigger and more populous 
than what some old people have known it to be when they were young,” 
by the clearing of the country round, and by the great consumption of 
wood in burning bricks and smelting iron ore. “For these reasons,” 


GOETHE IN PRACTICAL POLITICS, 


561 


Kalm quaintly adds, it is concluded in future times that Philadelphia 
will be obliged to pay a great price for wood/’ 

He says curiously little about the people of Philadelphia. He 
does not seem to notice any peculiarities, as one might have expected, 
in their dress or manners, but it is his deliberate opinion that every 
one “ is so well secured by the laws in his person and property, and 
enjoys such liberties, that a citizen of Philadelphia may in a manner 
be said to live in his house like a king.’’ 

Emily P. Weaver. 


GOETHE IN PRACTICAL POLITICS. 

a OETHE himself has said that the faults of great men seem exag- 
gerated as well as their virtues ; and if we apply this principle 
to his case, it ought to remove much of the odium which rests on his 
name. Some of the accusations which have been brought against him 
are undoubtedly just ; but it is equally certain that others have origi- 
nated either in party prejudice or from the jealousy of his literary con- 
temporaries. He is certainly to blame for his desertion of Frederika, 
and probably for other flirtations, — though such behavior does not 
always seem to militate against a man’s character. Goethe’s love- 
affairs, though by no means to his credit, were of quite a different sort 
from the immorality of Byron, Burns, and Heine. The accusation, 
however, that he was a selfish aristocrat, unpatriotic, insensible to the 
sufferings of the poor, and opposed to the popular and reformatory 
movements of his time, is untrue and unjust, and can easily be proved 
so. That he was an aristocrat cannot be doubted; but so was Walter 
Scott, for they were both brought up and educated at a period when 
aristocracy was considered the natural order of society. 

Of all classes of people, none would seem to be so unfitted — from 
their tenderness of feeling, their pictorial habit of mind, and their 
sensitive temperament — for practical politics, as poets and artists ; and 
they have generally recognized this themselves. Emerson says, — 

If I leave my study for their politique, 

Which at the best is trick, 

The angry muse puts confusion in my brain. 

There is scarcely a reflection in Shakespeare of the religious and 
physical struggle in which he was born and brought up ; and though 
Milton accepted a position in Cromwell’s government, it proved more 
to his own disadvantage after the restoration of the Stuarts than for the 
benefit of his country. The angry muse likewise drove Dante into 
banishment for joining the party of the Ghibellines. 

Yet there are occasions of public exigency when it is the duty of 
every man, whatever his calling, to devote himself unreservedly to the 
welfare of the state. No one was more ready than Goethe to admit 
VoL. LIX.~36 


562 


GOETHE IN PRACTICAL POLITICS, 


the truth of this, but the opportunity to prove his patriotism never 
came to him. 

He was born in a community more free than any city in the United 
States, for there was neither state nor national authority above it ; but, 
as often happens in small independent communities, public opinion was 
so tyrannical there that Goethe was glad to escape from it, even to the 
conventional atmosphere of the Weimar court. No person, he says, 
was permitted to be conspicuous in Frankfort, either for good or for 
evil ; but Goethe could not help being conspicuous, any more than 
Arthur Plantagenet could help being the son of Geoffrey. At Weimar 
Goethe was advanced from one position in the duke^s service to an- 
other, until at last he became minister of state, and was the confiden- 
tial adviser of his patron all through the Napoleonic wars. 

How was he to conduct himself in such a position? How do the 
members of presidents’ cabinets conduct themselves? Are they not as 
reticent as possible in regard to all matters which are immediately under 
discussion ? They give an opinion, perhaps, in order to avoid the ap- 
pearance of secrecy, but they guard themselves carefully against any- 
thing which might compromise the administration. So anything which 
Goethe might have said, any political opinion he might have uttered, 
would at once be attributed to the grand duke, and pass current over 
the whole of Europe. Under the circumstances, he had no resource 
but absolute reticence ; and for this plain and self-evident reason almost 
nothing is known of his opinions concerning the important events of his 
time. It is one of the most common and stupid of blunders to sup- 
pose that a silent man is an apathetic one. 

Weimar is a small duchy, lying between two kingdoms ; but so great 
is the veneration of Germans for hereditary right that its boundaries 
have always been respected. There was no such feeling in Napoleon’s 
composition ; he abrogated the charters of free cities, and exiled many 
German princes from their dominions. There was danger during his 
conflict with Prussia that Weimar would be forcibly annexed to one 
side or the other on the ground of military necessity. The only 
resource in such times for a state without any military force was to be 
as cautiously neutral as possible. That was the part which the grand 
duke and Goethe were obliged to act, not only for their own benefit, 
but for that of their people ; and they would seem to have played it to 
perfection. 

Napoleon passed through Weimar in 1806 without molesting man 
or property. He sent for Goethe to take dinner with him ; and then 
for the first and only time either of them met his equal. They were 
more alike perhaps than is generally supposed, — one the apostle of lib- 
eralism (after a fashion) in politics, the other in intellectual life ; Goethe 
was also a conqueror. The accusation that he behaved in a servile 
manner toward Napoleon is too grotesque to be considered for a mo- 
ment. The emperor said to his marshals after the poet had with- 
drawn from the table, There is a man for you.” 

Goethe possessed the rare faculty of seeing both sides of a question. 
It is a faculty which belongs by good right to the dramatic poet, for it 
is only the dramatic habit that will cultivate it. He was both liberal 


GOETHE IN PRACTICAL POLITICS. 


663 


and conservative. He says in one of his brief proverbial poems, 
Hold fast to the old, but ever with open hand welcome the new.^’ 
He has been blamed by his countrymen for his partiality toward 
Napoleon, which was supposed to be the result of personal admiration. 
There is quite as good reason for believing that he had an equal sym- 
pathy with the reforms which Napoleon enacted in Germany, Italy, 
and Spain. Even the socialists admit that Napoleon conferred great 
benefits on Western Germany. Could the impartial Goethe be ob- 
livious to what was taking place in the states adjacent to Weimar? 

Liberalism does not mean the same in Germany that it does in the 
United States. Its aim is not a republic, but rather a monarchical 
democracy like that in England. In the revolution of 1848 the 
German republicans were almost all socialists. In Goethe^s time 
liberalism meant the abolition of class privileges, the right of voting 
taxes and armaments by elective assemblies, and freedom of the press. 
In 1813 many of the German liberals, like the enthusiastic Heine, 
took sides with Napoleon ; but a larger number joined the Prussians 
on the ground of nationality, being desirous to free themselves from 
French domination. It is known that Goethe^s son was at that time 
an ardent Napoleonist, and that Goethe himself discouraged recruit- 
ing for the Prussian army in Weimar. Surely the man who could 
predict an earthquake in Sicily was able to foresee the tremendous 
conservative reaction which would immediately follow Napoleon’s 
downfall ; but Goethe’s liberalism is not a matter of inference or 
conjecture. 

Less than one year after the battle of Waterloo, first of all the 
German princes, the Duke Carl August of Weimar granted his people 
a constitutional government which admitted freedom of the press, the 
right of franchise for all citizens, and the right of voting taxes. Can 
any one suppose this was done in opposition to Goethe’s advice? We 
know the characters of the two men. Both were reserved ; but Goethe 
was kindly, conciliatory, and always ready to listen to the opinions of 
others, while the duke was naturally haughty, self-willed, and auto- 
cratic. It is thus that Goethe represented him in the character of 
Thoas. 

Unfortunately, the Holy Alliance set its iron jackboot on this in- 
cipient growth of liberalism, and crushed it out. Carl August was 
notified by the great powers that he must abandon the position he had 
assumed, and no choice but obedience was left him. With the spas- 
modic outbreaks which followed during the next ten years, in various 
parts of Germany, Goethe had little sympathy, for it was easy to see 
that they aggravated the trouble instead of helping it : he knew them 
to be as imprudent as they were hopeless, and when they culminated in 
the foolish assassination of Kotzebue (which is supposed to have pre- 
vented the adoption of a liberal constitution in Prussia) there was 
nothing he could do but avert his face in sorrow. Goethe always pre- 
ferred temperate measures and a gradual progress in reform to sharp 
and violent revolutions ; but if he had been a conservative in the usual 
meaning of the word, he would have belonged to the party of Wel- 
lington and Metternich, and would never have been reproached with 


564 


GOETHE IN PRACTICAL POLITICS. 


partiality for Napoleon. On the occasion of the small rebellion of the 
students at Jena, he said that the students were right, but that the 
grand duke was also right and must be obeyed. 

I would compare Goethe in this respect with no less a person than 
President Lincoln. What do we honor Lincoln for so much as for his 
proclamation of freedom for the slaves ? And yet the politicians who 
nominated him at Chicago hardly knew whether they were voting for 
an anti-slavery candidate or not. They knew only that they were 
voting for a man they could trust. Horace Greeley declined to vote 
for him because Lincoln had not distinctly committed himself on the 
slavery question. In his campaign against Douglas he opposed in a 
vigorous and decided manner the extension of slavery in the terri- 
tories, especially when the attempt was made to force it on the people 
as the government was doing in Kansas ; but in his Cooper Institute 
address he deprecated all legislation which might interfere with slavery 
where it was already established. Does any one doubt that Lincoln 
was at heart an anti-slavery man ? The anti-slavery cause was part 
of the great humanitarian movement of the nineteenth century ; and 
a man who was so magnanimous and compassionate as Lincoln must 
certainly have felt this. He believed that the cause could be promoted 
better by his silence than by anything he could say. He waited his 
time until he should be able to deal with the evil in a more effective 
manner than by words; and the logic of events justified him. 

Such an opportunity never came to Goethe ; but we read in Wil- 
helm MeistePs Indenture of Apprenticeship, ^‘They who seethe half 
of a matter are apt to talk and say a great deal about it ; but he who 
sees the whole of it feels inclined to act, and speaks late or not at all.’^ 
A wise sentence, and of universal application. 

Goethe did not, like Schiller, idealize the common people, but he 
always treated them in his writings with respect, and strove to repre- 
sent the good that is in them as well as their peculiarities. There are 
many instances of this, but especially the scene of Easter Sunday in 
the first part of Faust.^^ Hermann and Dorothea^^ is a pastoral of 
humble life that never has been matched. If the common people had 
not been interesting to Goethe he could not have written it. When a 
lady of rank complained that the characters in Wilhelm Meister’^ 
did not belong to good society, Goethe replied in a verse, — 

I have sometimes been in society called good from which I could 
not obtain an idea for the smallest poem.^^ 

There is substantial proof in Eckermann’s Conversations, and in 
other records, that Goethe maintained a lively interest in public affairs 
till the time of his death. 

In the fearful cyclones on the coast of Asia w’hich occur during the 
changing of the monsoons, there is a central space where the storm 
does not rage. So in the little duchy of Weimar, while the wars of 
Napoleon were raging all around, there was calmness and peace like 
that of the mighty intellect which has made it famous. It was the 
intellectual centre of Europe. 

F. P. Stearns, 


ANSWERING HIS LETTER. 


565 


ANSWERING HIS LETTER. 

‘‘ IVr O W, you are sure I ought to do it said the Beauty. 

XM “ Ye-es, I ihiinlc we are sure/^ said the Artist, pausing in the 
process of retouching the face of a florid gentleman on an easel. 

^^Be mighty certain, now. I don’t want to make any mistakes in 
this affair,” said the Beauty. 

We wouldn’t have you make any for the world,” said the Writer 
of short stories, who was sorting over some loose sheets of manuscript. 

You both think, then, that he hasn’t written again because he is 
waiting for an answer to his first letter, and not because he has grown 
indifferent?” persisted the Beauty. 

‘‘ Yes,” said the Artist, I have come to believe that men need 
some encouraging. I used to think otherwise, but that must have been 
a mistake. Now, if I had met old Mr. Pettigrew’s overtures half-way, 
I might not be at this minute engaged in touching up Colonel Mc- 
Vivial’s nose.” 

No, you might be touching up old Mr. Pettigrew’s nose — with a 
grindvStone,” said the Writer. ^^By the way, didn’t I see Mrs. Mc- 
Vivial here yesterday? What did she say about the portrait?” 

‘^Thought the features were excellent, but the flesh-tints lacked 
color. Now, I think the ” 

“We are all agreed, then, that I ought to answer the letter?” 
interrupted the Beauty. “ Well, here goes.” 

She flourished her pen, but the Writer was down upon her before 
she could make a scratch. 

“ Spendthrift ! Would you make your first draught on that expen- 
sive note-paper? Here, take this tablet,” she said. 

The Beauty bowed her graceful head over the tablet, and inscribed 
three words, — “ Dear Mr. Hughes.” 

“ There !” she exclaimed. “ I’ve crossed the Rubicon and burned 
my ships behind me.” 

“Well! I think!” ejaculated the Youngest, shutting her algebra 
with a bang. “Writing letters to young men, and doesn’t know any 
more about history than that 

“ History is of small importance in a crisis like this,” replied the 
unruffled Beauty. “ What must I say first ?” 

“ Something in reference to his letter, I should think,” said the 
Artist. “ Where is it? Let me look over it again.” 

“ Here is the precious document. Oh, what would that man think 
if he knew how often, how carefully, I might almost say how prayer- 
fully, that letter has been perused ? I dare say he thinks it is lying, 
covered up and forgotten, under a great heap of cards and notes and 
invitations to brilliant social functions, just as it would have been had 
I received it while in Chicago.” 

“ I don’t see why you wanted to fool people that way,” said ^he 
Youngest. 


566 


ANSWERING HIS LETTER. 


dearie, you have never been tempted. Wait until Aunt 
Julia invites you to her palatial home, and see if you feel like telling 
everybody there that when you are in your own town you live in a 
ramshackle house without any paint on it, and are absolutely unknown 
except to a few old people who happen to remember your ancestors. 
Maybe you^W have the moral courage; I hope you will; but I 
doubt it.’^ 

But what if he should ever come here and see how it all is 
persisted the Youngest. 

“ Oh, he wouldn^t mind if he is in love,^^ said the Writer. 

In love said the Youngest, with a sniff. 

She doesn’t believe it,” remarked the Beauty. Isn’t she horrid ?” 

Don’t squabble, children. Time is flying.” 

Yes, it is now a quarter to eight, and I want to get this letter 
ready for the postman when he comes at two. Six hours ! I’d better 
hurry. But what shall I say first? Oh, hand that thing here and 
let me read it again. Every word of it is burned into my brain, but 
maybe I’ll get some inspiration just from holding it in my hand. 
Keep quiet, now.” 

Again she bent her head, and wrote for the space of half a minute, 
her three sisters almost holding their breath the while. 

Read it,” they said in concert, when they saw her lay down her 
pen and lean back in her chair. 

‘^Deak Me. Hughes, — The ambiguity of one portion of your 
letter left me in doubt as to whether you would expect a reply. How- 
ever, you have often assured me, verbally, that a letter from me would 
give you the greatest pleasure. I like to give pleasure to my friends, 
and writing a letter is certainly an easy thing to do.” 

What a whopper !” remarked the Youngest. 

^^Of course I mean under ordinary circumstances,” retorted the 
Beauty, a little bit vexed. These are altogether extraordinary, and 
I’m all at sea ” 

Thought you said you had burned your ships.” 

Make her hush,” pleaded the Beauty, trying to conceal her inward 
amusement under a plaintive and injured exterior. ^^I was going to 
say, when she interrupted me, that every girl ought to have some edu- 
cation in such matters as this. I don’t see why my older sisters didn’t 
have some love-affairs, so I could learn something by observation.” 

I don’t see, either,” said the Artist. 

It has always been a mystery to me,” added the Writer. 

^^Now, if you all will keep quiet just a little while, I’ll go on with 
my writing. Carrie, hadn’t you better go on to school?” 

No ; it isn’t time, and I want to hear that letter. ^ Every girl 
ought to have some education in such matters.’ ” 

Once more the central object of interest took up her pen, and this 
time she wrote diligently until the clock struck the half-hour, and 
Carrie sprang up, exclaiming, There, now, I must go ! Read what 
you’ve written, right quick.” 


ANSWERING HIS LETTER, 


567 


Not yet/^ said the Beauty, spread iug her pretty hands over her 
letter. It doesn^t sound well in its present incomplete state. Wait 
until IVe finished ; or, rather, don’t wait. I’ll save you a copy. 

Isn’t she awfully critical?” she added, when the door had closed 
after the reluctant departure of the Youngest. 

She’s awfully smart,” said the Artist. ^‘Read what you’ve 
written. I know it’s something bright, your face was so animated.” 

Was it? Well, I’ve written my own name over two whole sheets 
of paper. That’s all. I did it to delude the scoffer, and I half-way 
think she suspects the truth. I can’t think of another thing to say to 
that man, and I’m not going to answer his old letter. I think I might 
do better if old Colonel McVivial didn’t leer at me so. How much 
longer have we got to look at that disreputable old countenance?” 

‘‘If old Colonel McVivial puts a coat of paint on the front of the 
house, you’ll be sorry you talked so ugly about him,” said the Artist. 

“ I’ve heard that the old colonel is in the habit of painting things 
at times, but I didn’t think we wanted the front of the house such a 
sanguinary hue,” said the Beauty. “ However, I suppose anything is 
better than bare boards. What’s he going to pay you for the portrait?” 

“ Twenty-five.” 

“ My ! That will paint the front. How nice !” 

“ And maybe ‘ The Dowerless Bride’ will come to your aid with 
something to fix up the parlor,” said the Writer. 

“ Oh, have you finished ‘ The Dowerless Bride’ ? What are you 
going to send it to first ?” 

“ I decline to answer a question which carries with it such an 
insinuation.” 

“Well, that did sound like Carrie. I beg your pardon. What 
are you going to send it to ?” 

“ I haven’t decided. Now, do go on with your letter. You can 
write as charming letters as I ever read, and there’s no excuse for doing 
as you have done this morning.” 

“ Don’t set your lips like that. It’s so unbecoming. I am going 
to write the letter. See if I don’t,” said the Beauty. 

And she did. 

“Do you really mean all that?” she asked, blushing and dimpling 
with pleasure, when she had listened to the praises her sisters lavished 
on her production. 

“ Every word of it,” they answered, proudly. 

“ And can’t you think of any changes that might improve it? You 
know he’s mighty smart.” 

“ Oh, of course you can condense and transpose a little when you 
make your final copy. For instance, that little witticism about Trilby, 
there near the last, w^ould sound better in connection with your other 
remarks of a literary nature here near the first, and the part about 
social stagnation will just fill in where you take that out.” 

“Why, it’s like old Mrs. Grady’s quilt, isn’t it?” laughed the 
Beauty. “ ‘ You take a corner off of the dark square, and set it onto 
the light square, and the piece you take off of that just fits onto the 
other, and nobody ever could guess how it was put together.’ Now 


568 


A IS! SW BRING HIS LETTER, 


tell me, truly, could you get any sense out of the old lady^s descrip- 
tion 

Not an atom. Go on with your letter.^’ 

It was a beautiful letter, when copied, and so impressive when 
signed, sealed, and directed that it moved the Artist to say the Beauty 
might now venture to try on Aunt Caroline’s wedding paraphernalia. 

You don’t mean it !” cried the delighted Beauty. She expressly 
stated that we were never to remove it from the trunk until one of us 
had ‘ a prospect.’ Where is the key ? Oh, I hope it will fit.” 

It did fit, from the wreath of orange-flowers down to the dainty 
slippers. 

You are a dream,” exclaimed the Artist. 

A poem,” ejaculated the Writer. 

And wouldn’t Aunt Caroline just turn over in her grave if she 
knew I was trying it on without even being engaged !” 

“ Never mind ; you will be.” 

Carrie doesn’t think so. Wouldn’t she gibe if she could see me 
now? Listen! isn’t that the postman’s whistle? He’s going in at 
Mrs. Moon’s.” 

And he must have that letter, or it won’t go out until to-morrow 
evening,” cried the Artist. 

And it has been delayed too long already. Where is it ?” said 
the Writer. 

One of you will have to take it down to him : I can’t go in this 
rig,” replied the Beauty, tilting the mirror. 

^‘But where is it? There! I heard the gate-latch click. He’s 
coming in here. Where did you put the letter?” 

I think you had it last,” said the Beauty, dreamily, looking over 
her shoulder at the sweep of her white satin train, while her sisters 
rushed franticly from room to room, collided with each other in the 
door-way, and upset everything movable that came in their path. 
Colonel McVivial bit the dust, and ^^The Dowerless Bride” fluttered 
about in fragments. 

There’s the bell ! If we are not there in three seconds he’ll slip 
the letters under the door and go on,” panted the Artist, plunging 
about in Aunt Caroline’s trunk. 

^^I give it up,” said the Writer, ransacking the waste-basket. 

^^Why, here’s the letter on the pincushion,” said the Beauty, 
coming back to earth. 

She flew out into the hall and down the stairs, her veil floating out 
behind her like a white mist, and was at the door by the time her 
anxious sisters could get their heads over the balusters. 

I hope she caught him,” said one. 

It isn’t the postman’s voice,” whispered the other, and she has 
invited him in and shut the door.” 

They crept down a few steps, so they could see as well as hear. 

The Beauty was laughing and blushing. 

No, you haven’t interrupted a wedding,” she said. I was only 
masquerading, and when I heard the bell ring I thought it was the 
postman, and ran down to give him a letter. Here it is.” 


POLITICS ON THE AMERICAN STAGE. 


569 


He took it and looked at the address. 

‘‘ It is time you were sending it/^ he said, slipping it into his breast- 
pocket. I have come five hundred miles to see why you waited so 
long, and I find you dressed as a bride.^^ 

She was looking up at him, her face as earnest now as his own. 
He went on, — 

‘‘Have you been deceiving me? But no, that question is not just. 
Have I been deceiving myself? Have the brightest dreams I ever 
had, the dearest plans I ever made, been all for a woman who is going 
to marry^^ (no change in the face under the crown of orange-flowers) 
“ another man 

Her answer was so soft and low that her sisters could not hear it, 
and the next instant a man^s arms were crushing Aunt Caroline’s satin 
and laces, while the Artist and the Writer crept back to the studio, 
where they dropped upon a couple of chairs and gazed at each other 
across the debris. 

Mary B. Goodwin, 


POLITICS ON THE AMERICAN STAGE. 

T he every-day citizen who attends strictly to his own business, pays 
his taxes before a penalty is added for delinquency, and votes the 
same straight ticket his father and grandfather did, although he may 
occasionally join in the general complaint that there is too much politics 
in this country, has, nevertheless, no adequate idea of the size and 
power of that class of men and women who make a living by saving 
the country. If he lives outside the large cities, in districts where it is 
not necessary to have a police-force, a fire-department, internal improve- 
ments, street-cars, gas, and electricity, he does not often come into con- 
tact with the “machine but as his place of voting becomes more and 
more populated, he could see, if he were observant, the “ boss and gang” 
come more and more into power. Men with “ pulls” of all kinds hang 
about the lobbies of all halls of legislation, from the town council cham- 
ber to that of the United States Senate, eager to curry favor for the 
schemes of employers who keep themselves carefully in the background. 
Wires are laid and pulled about as quietly as possible and as inconspic- 
uously. In fact, politics is much like the stage : the spectator does not 
see what goes on behind the scenes and in the wings, nor is it intended 
that he should. It is a poor politician that is not actor enough to play 
his heroic roles strictly according to the “ Diderot Paradox,” and play- 
wright enough to make it appear that his leading juvenile is really 
speaking his own words. 

But, without going into an exposition of the modern methods of 
political intrigue, the conclusion is inevitable : stage politics amounts to 
very, very little. It has been used to “ fill in ;” it is a wonderful boon 
to the writers of so-called farce-comedy ; but as the main theme of a 
serious drama, it does not seem to have been given much consideration. 
Mr. Koland Reed’s “ Politician” is amusing. It is said that because of 
the performance he has been asked to become politician in reality, I 


570 


POLITICS ON THE AMERICAN STAGE. 


have heard that he founds his conception of the character on that of 
some demagogue who has run for almost every oflBce — but never held 
one. This I can easily believe, for a more transparent schemer I never 
saw, and, notwithstanding the offer mentioned, the play is a farce, a 
good farce but for the pretence that it is not. 

The heroes of Mr. Crane are not politicians; they are gentlemen 
of noble natures placed in what purports to be political environment. 
Refreshingly honest, exceptionally patriotic, they also derive much of 
their popularity from their amusing inability to make love. ‘^The 
Governor of Kentucky for instance, quietly submits to be chosen 
United States Senator, while the arrest of a forger, the defeat of a rail- 
road swindle, and a trio of humorous but not too life-like courtships 
absorb his mind and the attention of the audience. 

Mr. Hoyt, in his farces, often touches upon modern politics, but is 
careful not to go much deeper than he can be followed by the dullest 
spectator. In his A Contented Woman’’ a wealthy resident of Denver 
put himself in nomination for mayor of the city, hoping that the office 
might be a stepping-stone to the governorship of the State and eventu- 
ally to the national Senate. The worry of the campaign made him 
nervous, and one day when he was in a hurry to get out with the 
boys” a button came off his overcoat. His wife sewed it on several 
inches out of place ; he got angry, and said, Damn that button !” 
Because he did so, the wife consented to run against him, and was 
elected, only to find that not being twenty-one years of age she could 
not take the office. The action of the play is intended as a satire on 
the woman in politics. “ The Temperance Town,” Mr. Hoyt’s master- 
piece, as they say, is not on the face of things a political play. It is 
serious, an unusual thing for Mr. Hoyt, and deals with the temper- 
ance laws of New Hampshire, — political conditions, — although no 
election or candidate appears. It amounts to little more or less than 
an attempt, a successful attempt in some ways, to throw deserved and 
undeserved ridicule upon the active, radical prohibitionists. 

The play which perhaps more than any other deals seriously wdth 
American politics is Mr. Carleton’s ‘^Ambition,” in which Mr. Nat. 
Goodwin pleased the New York public and made a success last season. 
In it the political element is almost robust enough to stand alone. The 
central figure is a plain, honest Senator who had worked his way up 
from the position of a freight train brakeman on a Western railroad. 
This embodiment of patriotism and incorruptibility was the leader of 
his party in the Senate, — somewhat paradoxical, I admit, but possible. 
In the midst of Cuba’s struggle for freedom the Senator, Obadiah Beck, 
introduced a bill to recognize her and give her at least moral support. 
Spain, of course, disliked the measure, and her minister set up a plot 
to defeat its passage. Two old friends of Senator Beck, one a fellow- 
Senator whom he had saved from drunkenness and ruin, led the con- 
spiracy. Upon the defeat of the bill they were to receive rich sugar 
lands and privileges in Cuba. By misrepresentation a quarrel was 
forced between Beck and the President, so that on the passage of the 
bill it was vetoed before the ink was dry,” but Beck, with character- 
istic energy, proposed its passage over the veto, and a new scheme had 


LIMITATION. 


571 


to be concocted. The presidential term was drawing to a close, and the 
national conventions were soon to meet. The pretended friends got the 
Senator’s reluctant consent to allow his name to go before the party for 
nomination. They hoped thus to divide his attention and by packing 
the convention to defeat not only the bill but also his nomination and 
ruin his power in the Senate. The plot was discovered, the evening 
before the convention, and while Beck conferred with the plotters his 
friends put his bill through both houses. His name was then with- 
drawn from the convention, and by a most wondrous force of personal 
influence, without the use of money, the candidate of the plotters, the 
renegade Senator, was defeated, and, to prevent public exposure, com- 
pelled to resign his office, because the American people cannot be ruled 
by bribery and corruption,” and he had violated his trust. In the 
midst of all this treachery and corruption the hero makes patriotic 
speeches that set ^^the gods” to yelling and deepen the idea that the 
government of this country is something not to be improved upon. It 
sets up a condition of affairs possible only in this country, and brings 
all to a pleasant conclusion by methods possible only on the stage. 

Melodramatic though they are, the politicians of ^^The Great 
Diamond Robbery” are life-like in their villany and trickery if in 
nothing else. The play, however, contains a little of everything, pos- 
sible and impossible, and a review of its political phases would not be 
profitable. To be understood it must be seen, — twice, at least. 

It can scarcely be said that there is more than one political play on 
the boards to-day, notwithstanding the fact that the political history of 
this country abounds in dramatic incident, situations, and characters. 
If I were asked to tell off-hand why it is so, I should say, because the 
American dramatist has consented to receive with blind faith the dogma 
that love is the central theme of the drama, and according to the spirit 
of the age has allowed that central theme to acquire a monopoly. The 
writers who know society fairly well and can picture love and the lover 
in all plights, romantic and ludicrous, have not, as a rule, frequent 
opportunities to pry into the workings of political machinery. Being 
able to dispose of their work as it is, they see no reason for troubling 
themselves about the matter. When, however, some adventurous 
writer does break away from conventions and traditions, Shore 
Acres” or Pudd’nhead Wilson” is the successful outcome, — hopeful 
signs, indeed, but surely not the culmination of the American drama. 

J, Harry Pence. 


LIMITATION. 

0 RIVER, beating ’gainst thy crags alway ! 

My kin thou art in boundless aspiration : 

Thou wouldst take mountain heights within thy sway. 
Yet canst not rise above thy banks of clay, — 

My kin again, in piteous limitation ! 

Carrie Blake Morgan. 


572 


A PLEA FOR OUR GAME. 


A PLEA FOR OUR GAME. 

T he preservation of game is the subject of deep concern to every 
sportsman who shoots over dogs or who trusts solely to the gun 
for his sport. 

The rapid and alarming destruction of our game in the last few 
years renders it imperatively necessary for those who believe in the 
protection of game to take active steps in forming good game-laws 
and establishing game protective associations in the different States of 
the Union. 

The game-supply of this country has steadily diminished. If it 
continues to do so at the same rate, year after year, it will not be long 
before game birds will be as scarce as the wild pigeon of to-day, and 
game animals as scarce as the bison, that once roamed over our Western 
prairies in vast numbers. It takes no prophetic eye to look into the 
future and see that the greed of the human race will eventually wipe 
from the face of the earth all our game birds and game animals. 

We do not think, when we go out to enjoy a day^s sport in the field, 
in these days of lessening numbers, that we are robbing our boys of all 
their game as rapidly as we can, that we are leaving for them, not the 
heritage of health and strength and confident manliness which comes 
of skill at out-door sports, but the narrow chest and white face of the 
counting-room. 

We do not mean that our boys shall ride and shoot; we want 
them to add and to measure. No, we want them to grow up thin and 
white ; and this will be the result to some, as well as the loss of many 
hunting days to others, if nature^s own creatures are not preserved and 
protected. 

If something is not done, in a few years from now all that will 
remain of our game birds will be the mounted specimens in the 
museums or private collections of the country. Probably our grand- 
children will never be able to say that they have seen such a bird as a 
wild duck or snipe, outside of a collection of mounted specimens ; and 
it is not improbable that the curators of the different museums will 
have to label the specimens. 

Quail will still remain unexterminated, but will be found only on 
preserves owned and controlled by the rich, in the same manner as the 
English preserves are to-day. Wild fowl, snipe, grouse, and plover 
cannot be propagated and protected in this way, as they are migratory 
birds and cannot be kept within the preserves. 

This is the state our game is coming to. Is it to be wondered at, 
when it is remembered that for four centuries, from the time Christopher 
Columbus landed on American soil to the present date, we have been 
killing and marketing game as rapidly as we knew how, and making 
no provision towards replacing the supply? The result of such a 
course is that for the most part the game has been blotted out from 
wide areas, and to-day, after four hundred years of wastefulness, we 


A PLEA FOR OUR GAME. 573 

are just beginning to ask one another how we may preserve the little 
that remains, for ourselves and our children. 

From the beginning wild game has played an important part in 
the development of the country. It supplied sustenance when there 
was no other food for the farmer and settler. Buffalo and elk and 
deer and grouse and quail and wild fowl sustained the men who first 
cut into the edge of the unbroken forest of the continent, who blazed 
the trails westward and pushed their way, directed, like mariners at 
sea, by note of sun and stars across the billowing prairies. Many a 
halt would have been made by these advancing hosts had they been 
compelled to depend upon supply-trains, instead of foraging upon the 
abundant game resources of the country as they took possession of it. 

For generations, then, it was right and proper and wise and profit- 
able that game should be killed for food; that every edible creature 
clothed in feathers or in fur should be regarded as so much meat to be 
skilleted or potted or panned. 

But times have changed. Conditions are not what they were. 
Game still affords food for the dwellers in the wilderness, for those who 
live in the outskirts ; and for people in such situations venison is a 
cheaper commodity than beef. 

But for the vast and overwhelming multitude of people of the con- 
tinent, game is no longer in any sense an essential factor of the food- 
supply. It has become a luxury ; it is so regarded, and it is sold at 
prices that make it such. With the exception of rabbits and hares, 
the supply of wild game as marketed is not such as to reduce the cost 
of living to persons of moderate means. 

The day of wild game as an economic factor in the food-supply 
of the country has gone by. In these four hundred years we have so 
reduced the supply of game and so improved and developed the other 
resources of the country that we can now supply food with the plough 
and reaper and the cattle-ranges cheaper than it can be furnished with 
the rifle or the shotgun. 

In short, as a civilized people we are no longer in any degree 
dependent for our sustenance upon the resources and the methods of 
primitive man. No plea of necessity, of economy, of value as food, 
demands the marketing of game. If every market-stall were to be 
swept clear of its game to-day, there would be no appreciable effect 
upon the food-supply of the country. 

The practical annihilation of one species of large game from the 
continent, and the sweeping off of other species from most regions 
formerly populated by them, have been brought about not by the settle- 
ment of the country, but by the unrelenting pursuit for commercial 
purposes. 

The work of the sportsman who hunts for pleasure has had an 
effect so trivial that, in comparison with that of the market-hunter, it 
need not be taken into consideration. The game paucity of to-day is 
due to the market-hunter, skin-hunter, and meat-hunter. 

The market-hunter, the man who shoots for profit, is the great ex- 
terminator. He sends thousands upon thousands of game birds and 
game animals to the metropolitan markets each year, and the present 


574 


THE GENTLE ART OF THE TRANSLATOR. 


alarming decrease in the game-supply of the country is due to him ; 
but we cannot say to him alone, for there is a certain class of so-called 
sportsmen who on the whole have the right ideas about the preservation 
of game and about shooting, but who, when the opportunity occurs to 
kill a hundred or a hundred and fifty birds a day, find it impossible to 
stop shooting. If such men — men who are familiar with the conditions 
governing this subject, men who should exercise self-restraint and hold 
their hands because they know what this great destruction means — if 
such men will not live up to the principles which they profess and ad- 
vocate, can we expect that those who make their living partly by the sale 
of game, or who know nothing about the importance of preserving 
game, but know only that they like to eat it, should give up the grati- 
fication of their appetites ? 

We can hardly expect from others acts of self-sacrifice which we 
are unwilling to perform ; and until sportsmen mend their ways and 
cease uselessly to destroy game, their precepts cannot convert many. 

Unless something is done speedily, our game in the future will be 
found only in the preserves owned and controlled by wealthy sports- 
men. 

Fred, Chapman Mathews. 


THE GENTLE ART OF THE TRANSLATOR, 

A TRANSLATION, so Mr. Augustine Birrell tells us, is but the 
pale and smileless ghost of what was once rare and radiant.’^ In 
this remark Mr. Birrell expresses most happily, albeit with a somewhat 
plaintive note, the sense of blank disappointment that too often settles 
down upon us when we encounter, in a language not its own, the coun- 
terfeit presentment of that which once possessed the power to inspire 
and to charm. 

Yet, notwithstanding the truth contained in the above criticism, and 
despite the fact that it is quite in sympathy with the feeling of those 
who are enabled by superior cultivation to enjoy and appreciate the 
peculiar graces of expression with which the language of each separate 
people is endowed, is it not only just that we should consider for a 
moment the claims of others who have lacked the time or opportunity 
granted to their more fortunate fellows, and who must therefore hold 
intercourse with the great minds of foreign nations through a transla- 
tion or not at all ? Should we not give one glance at the other side of 
the shield, plain and unadorned as it may appear? When rich men 
with private carriages at their command ride in omnibuses intended for 
the convenience of those of limited incomes, it is not for them to com- 
ment upon the inconvenience thereof ; and if a man who possesses the 
gift of tongues is content to hide his talent in a napkin and to enjoy the 
beauties of a foreign language through the medium of a translation, he 
has no right to murmur if, seen through a glass darkly, they appear to 
him dim, distorted, and lifeless. The more perfect the knowledge that 
such a man possesses of a foreign language, the more painfully will he 


THE GENTLE ART OF THE TRANSLATOR. 


575 


be affected by its disfigurement in a translation ; the greater the delicacy 
of his critical taste, the greater will be the offence to it of that disfig- 
urement; but just in proportion to his knowledge and his taste does 
he deserve to suffer. Translations are not for him or his kind. 

And yet, by a touch of human nature’s innate unreasonableness, 
these men are apt to express themselves complacently in the spirit of 
the remark made by Shirley Brooks to Mr. Edmund Yates, when, 
taking up an old school Iliad lying on his friend’s table, he observed, 
“ Ah, I see you have Homer’s Iliad. Well, after all, I believe it is the 
best.” Such people forget that this was the speech of a man of liberal 
education to another, who like himself was privileged to drink from 
the fountain-head. It is a more generous spirit that cries, with Chris- 
topher North, Courage ! all cannot read Greek, but every man has a 
right to as much of him [Homer] as he can get.” Surely this senti- 
ment constitutes sufficient plea to establish a right of way for those 
who are able to interpret the works of great minds — or even little 
ones, perhaps — to men and women who would otherwise be entirely 
cut off from their influence. 

If we are justified in assuming that the world at large has need of 
translations, it follows that we may proceed to inquire what purpose or 
purposes a translation should serve. What ought to be the aim, the 
ideal, of the translator ? The answer that naturally arises is, of course, 
accuracy, truth, faithfulness of reproduction ; but we have here one of 
the cases in which a statement perfectly correct in itself is nevertheless 
entirely inadequate until its meaning has been extended and amplified. 
For there are unfortunately two kinds of accuracy, as indeed there are 
two kinds of most things in this world, the real and the imitation. The 
former of these, the genuine sincere accuracy, comes to us with the 
dignity and unconscious repose of one upon whom knowledge and ex- 
perience have bestowed the power to control any situation with ease, 
and in whose presence we feel the confidence arising from the silent 
appreciation of power more than sufficient for the necessities of the 
occasion. An accuracy like this takes careful cognizance of the thought 
that the translation is to interpret, and then reproduces it with absolute 
faithfulness to the original idea, not hesitating, however, to change the 
outward form of expression if by so doing the soul, so to speak, of the 
original can be more truly interpreted. 

There is also, alas, as we have said, another accuracy, an accuracy 
falsely so called, from which we may indeed in our necessity derive 
information, but which makes us sensible of a feeling akin to that we 
experience in conversing with one to whose knowledge we defer, but 
whose manners grate upon us the while from their crudity and con- 
straint. This kind of accuracy renders literally word for word from one 
language into another whatever may be its appointed task, sometimes 
with care and faithfulness, sometimes with indifference and slovenli- 
ness, but always with the same baldness, the same jarring note. 

The former of these two varieties can exist only when the trans- 
lator has a very complete knowledge not only of the language from 
which he translates, but also, and more especially, of the one into which 
he renders. For, as we have already remarked, perfect interpretation 


576 


THE GENTLE ART OF THE TRANSLATOR. 


of an inward meaning can frequently be attained only by some varia- 
tion of outward expression, and no one can venture to make such varia- 
tions unless he has complete control over the instrument upon which 
they are to be made. Therefore it is peculiarly desirable that the lan- 
guage in which the translation assumes form should be the native tongue 
of the translator, for only in the language which is a man^s natural 
endowment can he command expression sufficiently to interpret the 
thoughts of another without doing him the injustice of too severe 
verbal literalness. 

The kind of accuracy which we have just spoken of as false is, 
nevertheless, often extremely conscientious. Its quality of falseness, 
while it is of course sometimes due to ignorance of the finer shades in 
the speech of foreign races, is yet perhaps more often the result of 
imperfect power of expression. The saying that a translator, like a 
poet, is born and not made is one that bears the stamp of truth, but 
the truth that it contains is the appreciation, felt even when it remains 
unanalyzed, that while a complete acquaintance with a foreign lan- 
guage can be acquired by all who make sufficient effort, perfect com- 
mand of expression in a native tongue, greatly as it can be improved 
by cultivation, exists fundamentally as a happy gift which some of the 
more favored of us are born to enjoy ; and only these can fitly interpret 
the thoughts of other minds. 

If then the object of a translation is the faithful interpretation of 
thought with as much verbal exactness as may serve the purpose, what 
are the essentials of success in achieving this ideal? They are really 
only two, — a clear and extensive knowledge of at least one foreign 
language, from which the translation is to be made, and a skilful 
mastery of the native language in which it is to be expressed. If in 
addition to these there exists, as is sometimes the case, a peculiar sym- 
pathy, a subtle bond between the mind of the author and that of his 
interpreter, then indeed we meet with one of those rare and exquisite 
translations from which even scholars can derive enjoyment. But the 
fulfilment of the other two conditions is sufficient to give pleasure and 
assistance to the majority. 

The objection may be raised with some show of reason that any 
one who possesses a command of language sufficient to meet the stand- 
ard of translation that has just been set up may prefer to make use 
of it for the development of his own ideas rather than those of an- 
other; but indeed it often happens that the pen of a ready writer 
is held by one who has little or no productive power. Translation is 
less glorious than original work only when the original work is of the 
first quality; and, after all, how many of us are fitted to sit down in 
the highest room ? A really good translation is, in spite of Mr. Birrell, 
an honorable and a pleasant thing : we ask only that it should have for 
its motto, The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.^^ 

Caroline W. Latimer. 


BOOKS OF THE MONTH. 

■* 

Seldom has a prize been bestowed with better judgment or 
Ne^”YorV^ greater justice than was the two-thousand-dollar Herald 

Edgar Fawcett. prize when given by a jury of experts to Mr. Edgar Faw- 

cett for his delightful tale of days gone by entitled A 
Romance of Old New York, The story needs no praise of ours, nor no recom- 
mendation born of its good fortune in the Herald contest. It stands by itself 
the sweetest, purest, most charming morsel of fiction it has been our good for- 
tune to taste in many a day. 

The central figure in A Romance of Old New York is Aaron Burr, the 
brilliant though despised statesman whose glory passed under the clouds of 
many a suspicious deed, — from the betrayal of Blennerhassett to the duel with 
Hamilton, — and whom few men or women could resist when he put forth all 
his subtle fascinations of manner and address. Aaron Burr has scarcely a friend 
in the early New York to which he has returned from his long sojourn abroad. 
One family, however, remains loyal to him, — the Varick Verplancks; and with 
the aged father and the two fair daughters he often dines or lingers in talk. 
Charlotte is betrothed secretly, but with her father’s consent, to Gerald 
Suydam. Pamela is critically sick and is to be sent to Throgg’s Neck, the sum- 
mer home of the Verplancks. But it is discovered that she also is madly in 
love with Suydam, and that nothing but a response from him will temper her 
sufierings. Charlotte and her father prevail upon the reluctant Gerald to simu- 
late affection for Pamela, and when he becomes her accepted lover she per- 
versely begins to recover. This makes a situation which only Colonel Burr 
with his tact and charm can untangle, and how nobly he does it is the theme 
of this clever story-teller. All turns out to the reader’s most exacting taste, 
and one rises from the pleasant book with a far better, though perhaps unhis- 
torical, opinion of Aaron Burr, and hence of his fellow-men. 

The scenes in the old New York streets under the clipped trees and by the 
canal banks, in the Bowling Green, and in the suburbs are painted with quaint 
fidelity, and Mr. Fawcett seldom for an instant breaks through the antique 
atmosphere which clings to his every page. The book is a dainty example of 
the Lippincott press, and in type and cover is unique. 

¥ 

The authoress who wrote A Social Highwayman has a field 
A MarUal Liability, fiction all to herself. Her stories have the qualities of 

Phipps Train. ^ melodramas quietly but strikingly told, and her plots are 
as ingenious as they are novel. The last tale by Elizabeth 
Phipps Train is called A Marital Liability^ and, like A Social Highwayman and 
The Autobiography of a Professional Beauty^ it is published by the J. B. Lippin- 
cott Company in their attractive Lotos Library. 

VoL. LIX.-~37 


677 


578 


BOOKS OF THE MONTH. 


It is a tale dealing, after the manner of Miss Train’s earlier story, with a 
respectable criminal. Mr. Murray Van Vorst appears on the first pages as a 
convict just released from ten years’ imprisonment for embezzlement. His guilt 
had not been fully proved, but circumstances were against him, and his wife 
acquiesced in his sentence. As he lurks in the warden’s office hesitating to face 
the world anew, his daughter enters with an order for visiting an old servant of 
the family, also imprisoned on a shallow charge. The father shrinks from his 
daughter’s sight, but it was inevitable that he should reveal himself, and she 
finds in the embittered man a subject for all her filial love. Then he is taken 
up by the influential Mrs. Pendexter, a young and wealthy widow, who gives a 
dinner to which she invites the social powers of the city in order to rehabilitate 
him. The true embezzler and thief is found after many ups and downs, and it 
proves to be a near relation to the Van Vorsts, father and daughter. How the 
tale ends the reader must himself investigate. Suffice it to say that he or she 
will not be disappointed, and that Miss Train’s power of concentrated dramatic 
force shows no abatement in her latest volume. 

¥ 

The success achieved by Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron’s novel 
A Bachelor’s Bridal, called A Bachelor's Bridal when it appeared in Lippin- 
Camwon. ^ cott’s MAGAZINE has induced the Lippincotts to issue it 

anew in the handy /Sfenes of Select Novels. The story is a 
tragic one, but is told with a picturesque force which robs it of the bitterness 
of tragedy. Told in brief, it runs thus : 

Valentine Bryant, a practical London solicitor of forty, does not care for 
women, except that he has formed a comfortable intimacy with Marion Chal- 
lenger, at whose husband’s home he is the ever-welcome confidant. At the 
opening he finds himself in a lonely house at Hillside, overlooking a charming 
garden, having been sent for by an unknown Mr. Kirby to stay over Sunday 
and arrange the marriage settlements between his son and his ward. Kirby is 
effusive but repugnant, and states that Enid Fairfax, his ward, a great heiress, 
is perverse, and simply determined to marry his son James. Enid then ap- 
pears, proving to be the most beautiful creature he has ever seen, but nervous 
and unhappy. Throughout Sunday she tries to get a private word with Bryant, 
but Kirby prevents it, and finally drugs Bryant’s sherry, so that he leaves on 
Monday morning with only time to tell Enid that, if he can ever serve her, she 
may command him. A week later, coming to his apartments at night, he is told 
a lady is waiting for him, who proves to be Enid. He is horrified at having her 
there at that hour, and tries to get rid of her, vainly, as she knows no one in 
the city, and has run away from home to escape being forced into a hurried 
marriage with James, who is a consumptive. Indeed, if she marries before 
twenty-one, the guardian still controls her large fortune. Bryant leaves her in 
his rooms and goes elsewhere for the night, returning to breakfast with her. 
While he is trying to plan a feasible future for her, Kirby rushes in, accusing 
him of decoying Enid to London to ruin her. Bryant, finding that he cannot 
make Kirby believe the truth, and determined to save Enid’s honor, by a sudden 
impulse says that she is his wife, which makes Kirby retreat in helpless rage. 
Bryant marries Enid and settles her in a little house in the country, while he 
resumes his old life, as if nothing had happened. Enid, who loves him, is 


BOOKS OF THE MONTH. 


579 


frightfully lonely, as nobody comes near her, until the appearance of a youth 
who has previously loved her, and then they spend every day together. 

One day Bryant overhears a shocking scandal connecting a well-known 
young man and a beauty calling herself Mrs. Bryant. This brings to life his 
latent passion for Enid, and hurries the story to a close. 

Mrs. Lovett Cameron has rareJy given us a more interesting novel, and 
readers of In a Grass Country and A Daughter’s Heart need have no fear of 
disappointment in A Bachelor’s Bridal. 


¥ 


In their shapely and pocketable Lotos Library the Lippin- 
By Reef and Palm. (.Q^ts are introducing to stay-at-homes as well as travellers 
Lotos Library ^ some unusually bright fiction. The last issue of this 

wholesome little yellow book contains Louis Beckers re- 
markable series of tales that weave a composite story out of many threads, 
called By Reef and Palm. 

It would be difficult to single out any one or two tales for especial admira- 
tion where all are so evenly true and picturesque, but for tropic fire in land- 
scape and human heart commend us to The Bangers of Tia Kau and Challis 
the Doubter. Here are the loves of the white trader and the dusky beauty of 
the South Seas made vivid by exquisite touches of pathos and passion, and even 
the tragedy is saved from horror by the firm hand of an artist of unerring 
taste. Herman Melville and Loti come to one^s mind in reading such languorous 
episodes, but, with all respect for the hallowed critics of Melville and for the 
authority of the French Academy, we must give our preference to Louis Becke, 
fine, lusty, steady, human artist who knows the South Seas as we know our 
threshold streets. No one can possibly make a mistake in reading By Reef and 
Palniy and we predict that some day these early editions will be in request as the 
coveted possessions of bibliophiles. 


¥ 

A sailing voyage of thirteen thousand miles, occupying 
four months, is something worth recording, and when the 
recorder is as tactful and agreeable a writer as Mr. Paul 
Eve Stevenson his book becomes a source of endless pleas- 
ure to the home-keeping reader who has not the hardihood to make so bold an 
adventure in travel. Mr. Stevenson— and he of Treasure Island would have been 
glad to own as a connection this newer adventurer on Orient seas — and his wife 
took passage on the British ship Mandalore, commanded by an American named 
Captain Kingdon. They sailed away from New York with a cargo of oil, bound 
for Calcutta, and duly arrived at that picturesque port on the Hooghly Biver. 
Mr. Stevenson kept a journal day by day of the events on shipboard and at sea, 
and his eager enthusiasm, joined with a remarkable gift for narrative, has pro- 
duced a tale, without plot, as fascinating as any fiction of the sea which con- 
temporary writers are likely to provide. His gossip of the cabin where the fine 
old captain presided, and of the two mates Byan and Kelly, with their charac- 
teristic habits, of the old salts, and of the monkey Pete, of the chickens and 
pigs, and of Captain Thompson of the whaler Pearl Nelson, who came aboard 


A Deep-Water Voy- 
age. By Paul Eve 
Stevenson. 


580 


BOOKS OF THE MONTH. 


and was charitably offered a draught and some novels, which he refused with 
pious scorn, — all this, with an infinitude more, gives one an impulse to meet 
the writer and so gain fuller measure even than he gives of the charm and ad- 
venture of A Deep- Water Voyd,ge. The volume is a handsome product of the 
Lippincott press and bindery. 

¥ 


Getting* Gold. A 
Practical Treatise 
for Prospectors, 
Miners, and Stu- 
dents By J. C. F. 
Johnson. 


The gold standard is a matter of so much moment at this 
point in our national history that it is essential for every 
one who can read to learn something for himself upon 
which to form a just opinion of the issues at stake. Here, 
then, is a shapely little volume which contains the essence 
of the subject of gold-mining. Everything important for 
a prospector, operator of a mill or mine, a director of a mining company, or a 
stock owner or voter to know is boiled down to its most, compact statement, 
and all that a wide experience could give the author, Mr. J. C. F. Johnson, 
F.G.S., A.I.M.E., is placed at the service of his less informed fellow-crafts- 
men. Getting Gold^ as the volume is well called, is the joint production of the 
J. B. Lippincott Company in America and Charles Griffin & Company, Limited, 
in London. It is amply illustrated, and, in the words of the London Mining 
Journal in regard to its author’s earlier volume, “ we have seldom seen a book 
in which so much interesting matter combined with useful information is given 
in so small a space.” 


¥ 


Frankenstein. By 
Mary W oilstone- 
craft Shelley. Il- 
lustrated. 


The very origin of Mrs. Shelley’s famous romance is as 
fascinating as any fiction. Byron, Shelley, Dr. Polidori, 
and Mrs. Shelley, who was Godwin’s and Mary Wollstone- 
craft’s daughter, entered into a contest in ghost-stories. 
The only permanent result is this weird tale called Franken- 
stein, the forerunner of a whole shelf-full of gruesome books, few of which have 
lived to keep it company. Frankenstein holds the reader who peruses it under 
the electric light as it did the earlier student under the tallow dip, and it will 
continue to have its legions of readers for all generations to come, because it 
is genuine literature. 


The Messrs. Lippincott now produce a really beautiful edition, embellished 
with engravings of places mentioned in the text, and bound with becoming 
taste. No library which pretends to completeness can omit Frankenstein. 


¥ 


A better condensed compendium than this neat and handy 
The British Mer- little volume called The British Mercantile Marine it would 
ETward^iaTkmore^ impossible to find. It is One of the Nautical Series which 
the J. B. Lippincott Company, with Messrs. Griffin & Com- 
pany, Limited, of London, have found entirely successful with the professional 
classes to which they make appeal. The present volume has been prepared by 


BOOKS OF THE MONTH. 


581 


Mr. Edward Blackmore, Master Mariner, Associate of the Institute of Naval 
Architects, and a member of many learned bodies in England and Scotland, as 
a short historical review of English shipping, including the rise and progress 
of British commerce, the education of the merchant officer, and the duty and 
discipline in the merchant service. The hand-book fulfils all that it sets out 
to do for the enlightenment of those whose education may be overshadowed by 
the very necessities of their calling, and will be found by all who go down to 
the sea in ships’^ an interesting as well as instructive companion. 




A story of many interests, which centre around one Sir 
William Pierrepont, head of the Pierrepont Bank, of East 
Dormus, England, is Wilt Thou Have This Woman ? by J. 
Maclaren Cobban. 

When we are first introduced to Sir William, and his brother the Squire, 
and the able young gentleman-farmer Coverley, they are all enjoying the pros- 
perity natural to a comfortable country community, but ill fortune is brought 
upon each of them through a designing woman ; in fact, This Woman. She is a 
variety actress, who had so fascinated Sir William in his youth that he had 
secretly married her under an assumed name, deserting the cousin to whom he 
was affianced. When their son was three years old the father had taken him 
and disappeared from the ken of the vulgar wife, providing her with an allow- 
ance of seven pounds a week, and it is only when he has become an elderly man 
that she spies him one night in the theatre, and sends her brother to track 
and blackmail him. In order to avoid open scandal, the harassed gentleman 
hides himself in London, leaving the bank in the care of an unscrupulous 
nephew, and the downfall of the whole concern is averted only by the ready 
aid of the cousin who loved and still loves him. Meantime, the reversals, the 
illness, and the love-afiairs of young Coverley hold the interest of the reader, 
until, upon the discovery of the banker, whose presence is necessary to set all 
the complications straight, he finds in him his hitherto unrecognized father. 

Sympathetic descriptions of the exquisite English dawns and nights form 
an artistic setting for the powerful incidents of the story, which appears from 
the Lippincott press in excellent type and an attractive binding. 


Wilt Thou Have 
This Woman? By 
J. Maclaren Cobban. 




When John Strange Winter sets her pen at rest and tilts in 
Into an Unknown arena of fiction, she is generally crowned victor, and 

Strange Winter. fairly surpassed herself in this last novel, called 

aptly Into an Unknown World. It is a tale describing the 
life of a wealthy and haughty English family, the Dundas house, which pre- 
tends to more elevation of breeding, more ancestral glory, and more exclusive- 
ness than almost any of its equally haughty neighbors. Mrs. Dundas is a proud 
woman with a minimum of emotion and a maximum of insular selfishness. She 
is fond of society and entertains lavishly. Her family, even up to Mr. Dundas 


582 


BOOKS OF THE MONTH. 


himself, quietly acknowledge her dominance and give way to her mandates. 
Hence, when she and Mr. Dundas start off for a visit to a nobleman in the 
Thuringian forest, her two daughters apparently acquiesce in their exile to 
Heidelberg with a German maid. But this same Fraulein and the innocent- 
appearing Marjory Dundas have a secret which Mrs. Dundas, with all her keen- 
ness, has not discovered. The Fraulein is in love. Her Fritz is a musician in 
Heidelberg, and the two conspirators have really planned the trip which seems 
to be commanded by Marjory^s mother. When they are well established in a 
pleasant flat, Fritz appears, and the Fraulein has her dreams fulfllled. But 
Fritz brings other callers, notably a Mr. Austin, introduced as a young mer- 
chant prince. He is an agreeable fellow, and soon falls in love with Marjory, 
who timidly accepts his advances, and finally accepts himself. They ran 
away from Heidelberg, scandalized Mrs. Dundas, and went to London, where 
Marjory soon enough found the family connections of her merchant prince to 
be hopelessly plain. In fact, they kept a shop, and the reader may imagine the 
situation when all this gradually dawns on the young patrician wife, and the 
tragic denouement when it becomes known to Mrs. Dundas herself. We shall 
not anticipate his exhilaration over the development of such a plot, but simply 
point out its possibilities as a source of enjoyment. Barely, and we say it ad- 
visedly, has John Strange Winter surpassed this novel, fresh from the Lippin- 
cott press. 



HOME IS WHERE TRUE BLESSINGS ARE.' 


583 


WHY THEN GO FAR? 

AT HOME 18 WHERE TRUE BLESSINGS ARE^ 

HERE seems to be a general awakening 
upon the subject of drinks. McClure’s 
for January has a very elaborate article upon 
home mineral waters, and, as usual, presents 
many interesting facts. We are said to be 
about ninety per cent, water, and should feel 
a decided interest in the kind of water enter- 
ing into our corporeal make-up. We im- 
port waters and use them, thinking, perhaps, 
that they must be better because they are 
imported, while at our own doors, within 
easy reach, are the self-same beneficial and 
curative agents in rich copiousness.” 

It then proceeds to give interesting facts 
about the famous Londonderry (N.H.) Spring, which is working such 
havoc in both the foreign and the domestic water trade. A few facts, 
which explain why such signal success has crowned the efforts of the 
company owning this Spring, may not be uninteresting. 

Years and years ago, fighting General John Stark, whose home, 
with that of Mollie,” was near the Spring, discovered that his rheu- 
matism was benefited by the water. Later Horace Greeley, who 
spent a part of his youth in the old town of Londonderry, was led to 
look upon the water as most potent for the ills of mankind. So it 
comes to pass that for more than a century this water has been doing 
curative work, proving itself especially effective in battling against 
rheumatism, gout, gravel, and Bright’s disease, as well as other forms 
of kidney difficulties. One result of this record is that a very great 
amount of expert interest has been aroused, and there have followed 
learned discussions such as very few other curative agents have suc- 
ceeded in evoking. There has also fiowed into the company controlling 
the Londonderry Springs a constant volume of personal testimonials 
of the greatest value and significance. 

In 1887 the present owners assumed management of this Spring. 
It had been well known throughout New England for many years. 
They went to the physicians with claims, substantially, that this was 
the strongest and best natural lithia water. They published an analy- 
sis by the late Professor Halvorson in proof of their claim. 

Soon after this, in June, 1887, Dr. A. C. Peale, in charge of the 
mineral water department in the United States Geological Survey, read 
a paper upon the classification of American Mineral Waters before the 
American Climatological Association in Baltimore, in which, after de- 
precating the habit of calling waters which showed only a trace of 
lithia, lithia water,” he said, — 

There is a fashion in mineral waters, as in most other things. 
Sulpho-carbonated waters promise to come to the front in the near 
future, and at the present time lithia waters occupy a prominent place. 

I know of but one lithia water, however, in which the analysis 
shows enough lithia proportionally to entitle it to a separate place on 
every scheme of classification ; that one is from the Londonderry Lithia 
Springs, of New Hampshire.” 




584 


HOME IS WHERE TRUE BLESSINGS ARE.^^ 



Two years later, 1889, Prof. J. F. Babcock, Boston’s foremost 
chemist, was invited by some physicians to visit the Springs, examine 
the surroundings, and report upon the probable permanency of the 
Springs. He wrote as follows : 

In reply to your letter of September 7th, I have to say that 
during the past summer I have several times visited the Londonderry 
Lithia Springs, and have analyzed specimens of the water. The 
character of the mineral formation in the neighborhood of the spa is 
such that I see no reason for doubting that the waters will retain their 
present strength and quality, notwithstanding the very large amount 

which the company is bottling. This 
water is entitled to the confidence of 
the public, and especially of that class 
who suffer from the diseases for which 
it is claimed to be a specific, and it 
will maintain its position among the 
best waters of its class, both in this 
country and Europe.” 

About this time Dr. Satterlee, of 
New York, himself a Professor of 
Chemistry, published a work upon 
Gout and Rheumatism,” in which 
he gave Londonderry the compliment 
of a special analysis. In this book 
no other American water of its kind was mentioned, while this water 
was specially recommended. 

From that to the present time medical books, medical writers, and 
the most eminent clinicians, including the great Da Costa, have indorsed 
and prescribed the water. 

The company have recently requested Professor G. Ogden Doremus 
to analyze the water in order to determine whether or not it still retains 
its old-time characteristics : Approximately the same as shown by 
analysis made several years ago,” says the eminent professor. 

The company court the fullest investigation at all times, believing 
that in this way only can they retain their great popularity with 
physicians and the public. 

As a result of the great success of this water, a lively competition 
has sprung up from those who either claim to have a natural lithia 
spring or think they know how to make one, but to our mind these 
companies cannot seriously affect the Londonderry Company, whose 
contention is that lithia and water do not make lithia water in any 
way resembling Londonderry, which is a distinct medicinal compound, 
having a definite field of action as much as opium or cinchona. 

The lithia in the water, say they, does not comprise all the medicinal 
virtue any more than the morphia represents all that is of clinical value 
in opium. Hence any water which does not contain all the ingredients, 
compounded in the same order, something which can never be known, 
is not a proper substitute for this old and reliable gift of nature. 

The writer has examined autograph letters from hundreds of the 
best known American and European physicians, and read medical 
books and medical journals by the hour, in which the superior qualities 
of this water have been set forth in a most convincing manner. 

The great Da Costa has prescribed it for this. Professor Hare for 
that. Professor Lyman for something else. In the new school” Pro- 
fessor Hale, the most widely read of all authors, prefers Londonderry 


HOME IS WHERE TRUE BLESSINGS ARE.^^ 535 

to all other waters/^ and so we might go on, filling fifty pages of this 
publication, but enough is as good as a feast. 

All the world knows what this water is doing, and no one who 
knows all these things is surprised at its great popularity. That 
jealous rivals assail it with all the venom they can command, and bring 
to their support retained so-called experts, is not of any moment when 
such an array of reputable scientific opinion is available in its defence. 

To clinch the matter while we are at it, let us take the evidence of 
one more authority ; and this may well be accepted as a summing up 
of the medical side of the question, so far as it relates to evidence of 
merit, since this journal may be regarded as voicing the opinion and 
experience of the profession it represents. In an editorial article the 
New England Medical Monthly took occasion to say, — 

^^The profession is at last awakening to a realizing sense of the 
value of the mineral waters of the springs of the United States. We 
believe we have more potent waters in America than in any other 
country in the world. 

A notable instance is 
found in the London- 
derry liithia Spring 
Water, of Nashua, N.H. 

Thiswaterwasafew 
years ago comparatively 
unknown ; it is now used 
in thousands of cases by 
as many doctors.’^ 

Whatever the theory 
of a thing may be, a per- 
sonal test and practical 
experience on one^s self 
tell whether a remedy is 
of value or not. 

During a visit to 
Europe in 1886 , and 
after drinking the hard 
water at Brighton, the editor of the New England Medical Monthly 
was attacked with nephritic colic, and has ever since suffered from uric- 
acid diathesis. Hosts of remedies and many doctors were tried, and 
tried in vain. For two years he has drunk nearly one-half gallon of 
the Londonderry Lithia Spring Water each day, stopping all other 
treatment, and with almost entire relief. There can be no doubt that 
the result in his case has been little short of marvellous. He believes 
it is the best water in the world for this condition. 

^^We have found it useful, also, in a variety of other diseases, 
viz., rheumatism, and in all the forms^of kidney diseases, especially.’^ 
Now you know the story of this particular premier, this monarch 
of all the table waters, that ministers to good health while it quenches 
thirst, that seduces the drinker into robustness while it soothes and 
pleases his palate, that mingles so alluringly the duty one owes to his 
corporeal being with the desire to attend to it, that insists upon doing 
good pleasantly. The whole story is told at a glance, and told more 
effectively than long disquisitions could tell it. 

The history of a century cannot be written in a day, and so we 
dismiss the subject, in full confidence that we have established at least 
one American water upon a level with the best in the world. 



586 


CURRENT NOTES. 


Could Not Stand it. — Author (describing play). — Then, in a scene 
where you trample on all the ties of affection, you 

Actor. — Cut that out.’’ 

Author. — ‘‘ What is the matter with it? It’s a very strong scene.” 

Actor. — I don’t care. I don’t propose to tramp on any ties. It’s too 
suggestive.” — New York World, 

A Lounging-Place in Pakis. — The people who lounge at the entrance 
of the Bois de Boulogne are now called the “ Cercle des Pannes,” anglice, The 
Hard-up People’s Club.” This gathering is supposed to be frequented by per- 
sons who cannot afford a carriage to drive to the Bois, but who yet want to see 
and, above all, to be seen. The accommodation consists of arm-chairs, which 
are paid for at the rate of four cents a sitting, and the plebeian bench, which 
costs nothing. Marriageable young ladies with their chaperons muster there 
in force on the lookout for a lord or master. Men also frequent the spot. They 
are of all ages, from the pert, downy-lipped adolescent fresh from college to the 
made-up old beau. 

Every one is well dressed and impecunious, and the one sex exerts all its 
efforts to deceive the other. Men are looking for wives with a dot, and ladies 
are in search of husbands. Marriages which are the outcome of a first meeting 
at the Cercle des Pannes are not likely to be happy, and one would certainly 
not advise friends to go there either for a wife or a husband. But of an after- 
noon there is no place like it for noting the latest thing in dress, and so long as 
you are careful to keep clear of the matrimonial net there is no harm in fre- 
quenting that crowded corner which has been dubbed with such a funny name. 
—Paris Correspondence of the San Francisco Argonaut, 

An Oversight. — “ These hotels don’t seem to have any enterprise,” re- 
marked the woman who goes shopping a great deal. 

“ What makes you think so ?” 

‘‘They don’t take advantage of the example set them by the dry-goods 
stores. I’m sure that a hotel charging four dollars a day could get lots of women 
to favor it when the family goes away for the summer if they’d mark the price 
down to $3.99.” — Washington Star. 

Queer Accident to a Freight-Car.— A very peculiar mishap to a 
freight-train has just come to the attention of the motive power department of 
the Panhandle in this city, and in its details it assumes the nature of a miracle 
as strange as those of old. The train was running at a rapid rate between 
Xenia and Trebein’s, a distance of four miles, when the trucks of one of the 
cars gave way and jumped onto the tracks of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and 
Dayton road, which runs parallel with the Pennsylvania at that point. The 
trucks lighted squarely on the rails, and continued running until they smashed 
into the pilot of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton engine running in the 
opposite direction. The Panhandle train evidently did not suffer any incon- 
venience owing to the loss of trucks, as it was not discovered until Trebein’s 
was reached, and then it was found that the body of the freight-car was held in 
position by the couplings and had run two miles without any wheels. The 
accident is perhaps without a parallel in the annals of railways. — Columbus 
Press. 


CURRENT NOTES. 


587 



' i} ''Z 




v/ 












N 


\'i* 


588 


CURRENT NOTES. 


Possible Solution. — Circe/’ said the lecturer, ^‘as you no doubt re- 
member, turned men into hogs.” 

“I wonder if she did it by starting a street-car line?” mused the woman 
who had hung to a strap all the way to the hall . — Cincinnati Enquirer. 

A Boat-Train. — An amphibious boat,” now in practical operation in 
Denmark, would seem to have paved the way for a solution of the problem in- 
volved in the operation of boats on the Upper Nile. 

The idea of a boat that could be used as a carriage or run on rails over dry 
land was broached many years ago, but the scheme was looked upon as im- 
practicable. 

This latter-day “amphibian” is no longer an experiment. It is a com- 
mercial success, and carried during the last summer twenty thousand pas- 
sengers. 

This odd-looking craft is used on two large lakes situated twelve miles from 
Copenhagen. The bodies of water are known as Pure So and Farum So, and 
are divided by a narrow strip of land eleven hundred feet in width. 

It is to cross this isthmus that the boat leaves the water and for the time 
becomes a locomotive. It is practical, although somewhat cumbersome. The 
inventor is a Swede, and the boat was built in Sweden. It is a small passenger 
steamer, forty-six feet in length, drawing from three feet to three feet six inches, 
according to the load. Her full complement of passengers is seventy. When 
loaded she weighs about fifteen tons. 

Her engines and boiler are of ordinary build, and have a maximum of 
twenty-seven horse-power. The mechanism which propels the boat when on 
land is quite simple, but it may be improved upon. 

The rails used are of regulation Danish pattern, and the gauge is four feet 
two inches. 

When nearing the land the boat is guided into a funnel-shaped dock, which 
gradually tapers down to a width only two inches greater than that of the boat. 
When the narrowest portion of the dock is reached, the boat enters a short 
parallel dock of the same width, and is allowed to advance slowly until the 
front wheels touch the rails, which extend below the water-level for the pur- 
pose. Immediately the wheels are thrown into gear, and the boat begins its 
ascent. It is assisted by the propeller, which is in play. 

In due time the back wheels find their way to the rails, and the boat 
advances on its upper course at the rate of about two hundred feet to the 
minute . — London Mail. 

Composite Names. — Everybody knows that Delmar takes its name from 
the fact that it is just on the State line between Delaware and Maryland, and 
that Penmar is named in the same way from Pennsylvania and Maryland, but 
few Philadelphians are aware that their city has contributed in this fashion to 
the little station of Philmont, which lies about five miles beyond Jenkintown, 
on the New York division of the Beading Bailroad. The station is very close 
to the line which divides the Thirty-Fifth ward of this city from Montgomery 
County, and is named from these two counties. The final syllable, “ mont,” 
gives the impression that the name, which is a very pretty one, is of French 
origin, but it is not, and probably had its origin in the brain of some railroad 
engineer or interested land -owner . — Philadelphia Record. 


»$» «$i i$» t^ 


CURRENT NOTES. 


589 


f^tTi t^t t^i*i t*i* f **^* **^* **^* **^* **^* »*^* »*^* **^* **^* **^* **^* *'^* *'^* **^* t*t*i t*t*i t*i*i i*ili*i t*iiri f*l*i 

ij[,j iji^j i^j ijj^i ij{,i ijjj ij(,j ip *j[,j tj;,j tjj,j ip ip tjj,i t j,j tj;,! m j tjj,j ij(,j ijj,i 14,1 14,1 14,1 

The Prince of Wales 


ORDERS 


Johann Hoff’s Malt Extract 



Abergeldie Castle, Aberdeenshire. 

Mr. Newman, Agent for Johann Hoff’s Malt Extract, 

London, E. C. 

Please supply three dozen HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT, on 
account of H. R. H., Prince of Wales. j. CROSS. 

By Goods Train to Abergeldie, Ballater, Aberdeenshire. 

BEWARE OF IMITATIONS 

The genuine JOHANN Hoff’s llalt Extract makes Flesh and Blood. More strength in one bottle 01 
JOHANN Hoff’s Malt Extract than in a cask of Ale, Beer, or Porter, without their intoxicating effects. 

EISNER & MENDELSON CO., Sole Agents, New York. 



I 


t*ilr t t ilri fifr f t *t* t t lT i t ir i r ir t r *!* ! r *ilr i t ir i **i^* r ir i t irt f*iir i r iT i t ir i t *!*! t*!*! t*l*i f*t*t tiirt tTt titr tijrt filrF tTr t*lri t^lrj tlTi 

ijL* ‘4.1 ‘V ‘I* ‘4** ‘4** W W ‘ 4 ** * 1 * W ‘I* * 4 ** ‘I* ‘•t* W *4** ‘4** W ‘V ‘V ‘t* ‘ 4 ** ‘V ‘ 4 '‘ *+* 


590 


CURRENT NOTES. 


Its Mission. — B acon. — I see they Ve put a sounding-board back of the 
minister's pulpit. What do you suppose that^s for?’’ 

Egbert. — ‘‘ Why, it’s to throw out the sound.” 

“ Gracious ! If you threw out the sound there wouldn’t be anything left in 
the sermon.” — Yonkers Statesman. 


Useful Tubers. — Great quantities of buttons, as well as billiard-balls, are 
now made from potatoes. It is not generally known that if the substance of the 
common potato be treated with certain acids it becomes almost as hard as stone 
and can be used for many purposes for which horn, ivory, and bone are now 
employed. This quality of the potato adapts it to button-making, and a very 
good grade of button is now made from the well-known tuber. The potato- 
button cannot be distinguished from the others save by a careful examination, 
and even then only by an expert, since it can be colored to suit the goods on 
which it is used. It is every whit as good-looking as a button of bone or ivory. 
The cheapness is a great recommendation, and will no doubt lead to a much 
larger employment in the future. 


A Strong Defence. — Justice (to colored prisoner). — ‘^You plead inno- 
cent of the charge of theft, and yet you were caught with two of Mr. Punkin- 
seed’s chickens in your possession. How do you explain the circumstance?” 

C. P. — “ De ’cumstance is easy ’nuff to splain, yer honor, I took de 
chickens by permission.” 

Justice. — “ How’s that? You don’t mean to say he gave them to you?” 

C. P. — ‘‘ Well, not ’zackly, but sumphen ’quivalent, yer honor. Yer see, it 
was dis way : I arsks de gen’l’man to gib some ’sistance to a po’ nigger out ob a 
job, an’ he say, ‘ I ain’t goin’ to help any beggar, but I’s willin’ enough to help a 
man to help himself.’ I says, ‘ Dat’s all I want, massa, a chance to help mesself.’ 
Well, just den he steps ’side de barn, an’ I was left alone ’side de chicken-coop, 
so I takes de fust chance he gibs me to help mesself, an’ dat’s how I comes in 
p’session ob de chickens. Dar wa’n’t no theft ’bout it, yer honor .” — Brooklyn 
Life. 


An Adventure. — Miss Kingsley, the African traveller, tells the following 
story about an adventure with a hippopotamus. 

“We were going down a river in a boat,” she said, “ when we saw ahead 
of us a herd of hippos, and I, being nervous, asked my guide if the animals 
were dangerous in this country. 

“ ‘ Sometimes they are, ma’am, and sometimes they’re not. You can’t tell 
till you’re past ’em,’ said he. 

“We went on, and just as I thought, ‘Saved!’ one came under the boat, 
and we were in the water. I always go conscientiously to the bottom, and when 
I returned to the surface I saw our crew making for the bank and heard a voice 
saying, ‘ Do you happen to survive, ma’am ?’ ‘ Temporarily,’ said I. ‘ Then 

hang on to the canoe.’ ‘ I am hanging,’ said I. ‘ Hang yourself.’ And he 
hung. I suggested the bank. ‘No,’ said he, ‘not yet. Wait till the canoe 
carries us past the land. If they can get a foothold, they’ll stamp you down. 
They can’t do much in deep water.’ But the worst of floating along like this 
is the chances are a crocodile will come along and sample your legs.” 


CURRENT NOTES. 


591 




MONDAY 

SAPOLIO 

■ONTHETUBS- 

TUESDAY 

SAPOLIO 

•ON THE TINS- 

WEDNESDAY 


SAPOUO 

♦ ON THE TABLES • 

THURSDAY 

SAPOLIO 

• ON THE FLOORS • 

FRIDAY 

SAPOUO 

• ON THE PAINT • 

SATURDAY 

SAPOLIO 



ON TH E OILCLOTHS • 

SUNDAY 

SAPOLIO 

FOR REST • - ^ 



f 

Ime^kes everymin^ 
¥ shine like a. 






592 


CURRENT NOTES. 


Who writes them. — It beats me” he said, as he laid down his news- 
paper thoughtfully. “ I dunno’s I ever thought of it afore, but now thet it does 
come ter my mind, it certainly beats me.’’ 

Whut air ye talkin’ about ?” asked his wife, anxiously. 

‘‘ Literatoor,” he answered. ’Course we’ve seen it showed up in the news- 
papers time and ag’in how all an editor does is ter set down weth a pot o’ paste 
an’ a pair o’ scissors an’ cut out things ter put inter ’is paper.” 

‘‘ Certainly. I don’t see nothin’ so beatin’ about that.” 

” But this is the question : some feller hez ter git them pieces up in the 
fust place. It never struck me afore, but I’m blest ef I wouldn’t like ter know 
who the feller is thet starts in an’ gits up them there things fur the editors ter 
cut out .” — Detroit Free Press. 


The Butterflies. 

After Coppee, Pour la Couronne.” 

At sixteen years she knew no care ; 

How could she, sweet and pure as light? 

And there pursued her everywhere 
Butterflies all white. 

A lover looked. She dropped her eyes. 

That glowed like pansies wet with dew. 

And lo ! there came from out the skies 
Butterflies all blue. 

Before she guessed, her heart was gone ; 

The tale of love was swiftly told. 

And all about her wheeled and shone 
Butterflies of gold. 

Then he forsook her one sad morn. 

She wept, and sobbed, 0 love, come back !” 

There only came to her forlorn 
Butterflies all black. 

John Davidson. 

Law and Justice. — The late Lord Chief Justice of England used to tell 
his friends this anecdote at his own expense : 

Driving in his coupe toward his court one morning, an accident happened 
to it at Grosvenor Square. Fearing he would be belated, he called a near-by 
cab from the street rank and bade the Jehu drive him as rapidly as possible to 
the courts of justice. 

And where be they?” 

” What, a London cabby, and don’t know where the law courts are at old 
Temple Bar?” 

‘^Oh, the law courts, is it? But you said courts of justice.” 

On hfs way to his judicial seat the Chief Justice saw at once that a line 
was drawn in the common mind between law and justice. As if, for instance, 
while one was dispensed, the other was dispensed with . — Green Bag. 


CURRENT NOTES. 


593 


33d Annual Statement of the 

TRAVELERS 

INSURANCE COMPANY. 

Chartered 1863. (Stock.) Life and Accident Insurance. 

JAMES Q. BATTERSON, President. Hartford, Conn., January i, 1897 . 

PAID-UP CAPITAL, - - $1,000,000.00 

ASSETS. 

Real Estate 953, 756.09 

Cash on Hand and in Bank 1,462,133.26 

Loans on Bond and Mortgage, Real Estate 5,377,156.02 

Interest Accrued, but not Due 203,121.89 

Loans on Collateral Security 714,150.00 

Loans on this Company’s Policies 936,342.31 

Deferred Life Premiums 291,935.47 

Premiums Due and Unreported on Life Policies 255,503.67 

State, County, and Municipal Bonds 3,361,078.92 

Railroad Stocks and Bonds 3,767,171.00 

Bank Stocks 1,084,966.00 

Miscellaneous Stocks and Bonds 1,489,370.00 

Total Assets $20,896,684.63 

LIABILITIES. 

Reserve, 4 per cent.. Life Department. 815,561,585.00 

Reserve for Re-insurance, Accident Department 1,311,974.40 

Present Value of Matured Instalment Policies 354,570.00 

Special Reserve for Contingent Liabilities 286,651.98 

Losses Unadjusted and not Due, and all other Liabilities 405,478.89 

Total Liabilities $17,920,260.27 

Surplus to Policy-holders $2,976,424.36 

STATISTICS TO DATE. 

Life Department. 

Number Life Policies Written 90,479 

Life Insurance in Force $88,243,267.00 

New Life Insurance written in 1896 11,941,012.00 

Insurance issued under the Annuity Plan is entered 
at the commuted value thereof, as required by law. 

Returned to Policy-holders in 1896 1,228,077.90 

Returned to Policy-holders since 1864 11,914,765.18 

Accident Department. 

Number Accident Policies Written 2,338,186 

Number Accident Claims Paid in 1896 14,163 

Whole Number Accident Claims Paid 292,379 

Returned to Policy-holders in 1896 $ 1,373,936.96 

Returned to Policy-holders since 1864 19,828,189.13 

Returned to Policy-holders in 1896 $ 2,602,014.86 

Returned to Policy-holders since 1864 31,742,954.31 

JOHN E. MORRIS, Acting Secretary. GEORGE ELLIS, Actuary. 

EDWARD V. PRESTON, Sup’t of Agencies. 

J. B. LEWIS, M.D., Surgeon and Adjuster. SYLVESTER C. DUNHAM, Counsel. 


VoL. LX I — .<?8 




594 


CURRENT NOTES. 


Sarcastic. — Barber (pausing in the mutilation). — “ Will you have a close 
shave, sir 

Victim (with a gasp). — “If I get out of this chair alive, I shall certainly 
consider it such .’’ — Omaha Bee, 

Obeah in Hayti. — Say a plantation-hand has a grievance against a par- 
ticular planter for discharging him without cause. He goes to an obeah man, 
and in a day or two the owner of the plantation walks out to his gate and finds 
lying in his path three white roosters’ heads. He knows that they mean mis- 
chief. He knows, too, that they will not be alone, and he looks about, and 
soon sees an empty bottle hanging from a neighboring tree. It is a hint that 
the bottle is intended to catch his shadow, a serious warning that must not go 
unheeded. Does he send for the police? Nothing of the kind. Kemember 
that his family have lived for generations among these obeah workers and have 
some fear of them. He has seen such warnings before, and knows that unless 
he acts quickly the consequences will be serious. 

His first step is to find out whom he has offended. He remembers the 
incident of the man who was discharged, and sends for him. He does not 
know how deadly the grudge may be. His own life, the lives of all his family, 
may be at stake. The water-jars must be emptied and cleaned, for they may 
contain poison. All the food must be carefully watched by some trusty servant, 
but the servants are all negroes, and he does not know whom he can trust. 
The milk must also be watched from the moment it leaves the cows until it 
reaches the table. He knows himself to be in danger every moment from poison, 
and until he has paid oflf the wages due to the discharged laborer and made 
him a present the planter is not comfortable in his mind. He does not care to 
prosecute the obeah man, because it would be useless. If there are any witnesses 
at all, they are colored people, who are far more afraid of the obeah man than 
of the law, and could not be made to testify truly. Then possibly he feels a 
little dread of the obeah man himself, such is the force of association . — Pall 
Mall Gazette. 

Boers and Cyclists. — About three years ago a wandering cyclist threw 
a whole district of the Transvaal into a paroxysm of superstitious terror. Travel- 
ling by night, his advent would have been unnoticed if two young Boers, early 
abroad in search of bullocks, had not seen the “ spoor,” or track, of the wheel- 
man. With the curiosity of their race, they followed it for some miles, being 
anxious to see “ the man who could trundle a wheelbarrow so far without a rest.” 

After an hour’s tracking one remarked, “ This fellow must be a thief. Let 
us go and tell the landdrost” (magistrate). Accordingly the worthy Dutch 
“ beak” was brought on the scene, and he was accompanied by a score of armed 
Boers. The whole party followed the path taken by our cyclist. Halting at 
noon, while the horses grazed, the mysterious trail was the object of much 
scrutiny. Suddenly one farmer exclaimed, — 

“ Look here, landdrost, if it was a barrow, where is the ' spoor’ of the man 
who wheeled it ?” 

“ My goodness I” exclaimed that official. “ I never thought of that ! Let’s 
see — yes, here is the wheel right enough, but where is the footprint? It is, it 
must be — yes, yes, ride, boys, ride. It’s a spook” (ghost). 

To this day that portion of the road is not traversed by any of the Dutch 
farmers. — Pearson^ s Weekly, 


CURRENT NOTES. 


695 





505T0N 
TEA PARTY 


SPRING ILLS, 

Enervation, 

Fatigue, 

Thin Blood, 

Anaemia, 

Exhaustion, 

Lack of Vitality, 

Weakness, 

Nervousness, 

Sleeplessness and 
Slow Recovery from a 
Winter's Sickness 
make people feel, as is aptly said, 
"under the weather," 

Pabst Malt Extract^ 

The Tonk^ 

is a powerful vitalizing: builder, 
strengfthener and sleep restorer* 
It adds energy to the heart and 
blood, fills one with life and 
brings back the fugitive health. 
It is indeed the best tonic for 
spring ills. 



596 


CURRENT NOTES. 


A New Kind of Headache. — Another malady has been discovered by 
the faculty. It takes the form of “academy headache.’^ This is not meant as 
an excuse for boys who attend seats of learning dignified with the name neg- 
lecting their lessons, but is an inconvenience which afflicts those who study 
high art, — not high in an aesthetic sense, but high up on the walls, — skied, in 
fact. The credit of diagnosing this malady is due to a Sheffield oculist. 

He has discovered that when, as at the Royal Academy, it is necessary to 
direct the eyes considerably above the horizontal line a number of times, a 
great strain is thrown upon the muscles which rotate the eye upward, as well 
as upon the elevators of the upper eyelids, which have, of course, to be cor- 
respondingly raised to accommodate the eyeball. This being so, “it is time 
that those who are responsible for the distribution of the pictures in galleries 
should recognize the fact that the human eye is not constructed for looking up- 
ward for any length of time, and if considerations of space oblige the whole 
of the available wall-area to be utilized, the higher pictures should be tilted at 
a suitable angle in order to minimize the strain on the eye-muscles.’^ 

The people who in religious meetings and at street-corners are so fond of 
turning up their eyes when patronizing their Creator should take warning from 
this discovery, even though it does come from SheflSeld, and keep their orbits 
either fixed horizontally or turned in a downward direction. Among ladies 
“ academy headache” may become really useful as an excuse for light refresh- 
ment . — London Telegraph, 


Too Selfish. — First Broker. — “ Of all mean, despicable, dishonorable fel- 
lows, I think Quotem is the worst.” 

Second Broker. — “ You don’t say so ! What has he done?” 

First Broker. — “ He made a huge sum the other day, and now he’s going to 
retire from business and live on the money, instead of giving his old true and 
tried friends a fair chance of getting it away from him .” — London Fun, 


A Smart Boy. — The power-loom was the invention of a farmer’s boy, who 
had never seen or heard of such a thing. He fashioned one with his penknife, 
and when he got it all done he showed it with great enthusiasm to his father, 
who at once kicked it all to pieces, saying he would have no boy about him 
who would spend his time on such foolish things. The boy was sent to a black- 
smith to learn a trade, and his master took a lively interest in him. 

He made a loom of what was left of the one his father had broken up, and 
showed it to his master. The blacksmith saw he had no common boy as an 
apprentice, and that the invention was a valuable one. He had a loom con- 
structed under the supervision of the boy. It worked to their perfect satisfac- 
tion, and the blacksmith furnished the means to manufacture the looms, and 
the boy received half the profits. 

In about a year the blacksmith wrote to the boy’s father that he should 
bring with him a wealthy gentleman who was the inventor of the celebrated 
power-loom. 

You may be able to judge of the astonishment at the old home when his 
son was presented to him as the inventor, who told him that the loom was the 
same as the model that he had kicked to pieces the previous year. — Pearson^ s 
Weekly, 


CURRENT NOTES. 


697 



How did it happen 

that the old-fashioned, laborious way of 


washing was ever given to woman as 
her particular work? It’s an imposition 
on her. She ought to have had only the 
easiest things to do — and men, strong, healthy 
men, ought to have taken up this washing business. 
Now, here is a suggestion. In those families 
y. that still stick to soap and make their wash- 
ing needlessly hard and unpleasant, let the 
men do that work. They’re better fitted for it. 
In the families that use Pearline ( o®ut'soap ) and 
make washing easy, let the women do it. They won’t mind it. 517 

^fse Pearline 




PROVIDENT LIFE AND TRUST CO. 

OF PHILADELPHIA. 

Attention is directed to the new Instalment-Annuity Policy of the Provident, 
which provides a fixed income for twenty years, and for the continuance of the 
income to the widow for the balance of her life, if she should survive the instal- 
ment period of twenty years. 

In everything which makes Life Insurance perfectly safe and moderate in cost, and 
in liberality to policy-holders, the Provident is unsurpassed. 


Feed Them Properly and carefully; reduce the painfully large per- 
centage of infant mortality. Take no chances and make no experiments in this 
very important matter. The Gail Borden Eagle Brand Condensed Milk has 
saved thousands of little lives. 



598 


CURRENT NOTES. 


Good People to Know. — Miss Kingsley, the African traveller, gives an 
amusing account of the beginning of her love of adventure. She was at the 
Canary Islands, and, hearing very dreadful accounts of the dangers and hor- 
rors of travelling in West Africa,’^ she felt she must go out of mere feminine 
curiosity. She continues, I asked a man who knew the country what I should 
find most useful to take out with me, and he replied, ^ An introduction to the 
Wesleyan mission, because they have a fine hearse and plumes at the station 
and would be able to give you a grand funeral.’ ” — Chicago News. 

To Fame. 

Bright fairy of the morn, with flowers arrayed. 

Whose beauties to the young pursuer seem 
Beyond the ecstasy of the poet’s dream. 

Shall I o’ertake thee ere thy lustre fade ? 

Ripe glory of the noon, to dazzle eyes 
A pageant of delight and power and gold, 

Dissolving into mirage manifold, 

Do I o’ertake thee, or mistake my prize ? 

Dull shadow of the evening, gaunt and gray. 

At random thrown, beyond me or above. 

As cold as memory in the arms of love. 

Have I o’erta’en thee but to cast away ?” 

“ No morn or noon or eve am I,” she said. 

But night, the depth of night behind the sun. 

By all mankind pursued, but never won, 

Until my shadow falls upon a shade.” 

R. D. Blackmore, in New York Advertiser. 


Too Well Recommended. — Furniture-Dealer. — '‘This table is easily 
worth the extra twenty dollars. A hundred years from now it will be as good 
as it is to-day.” 

Customer (choosing the cheaper). — "In that case. I’ll leave it for my great- 
grandchildren.” 

Was Once an Athlete. — "You would never think to look at me,” re- 
marked Father Hines, the Woodland prelate, as he slapped the front of his vest 
and surveyed an expansive girth, " that I was once an athlete. Yes, sir. It is a 
fact. I once performed a feat that could hardly be duplicated. I was in Vir- 
ginia City during the bonanza days. A couple of men were engaged in a duel 
with revolvers on the main street in front of the express oflRce. I was in the 
office. At the first shot broken glass fell all around me. I saw the express 
agent dodge behind the safe, and I thought that would be about the best place 
for me, but I had to climb over a partition nine feet high to reach the sate. I 
got there, but I never knew how. I tried to climb that partition again when the 
shooting was over, and I couldn’t jump high enough to grasp the top of it with 
my hands .” — San Francisco Post. 


CURRENT NOTES. 


599 


Letters from the People. 


“ I have used your Dobbins’ Floating Borax Soap 
for nearly a year, and would say that it is the best 
soap I ever used for household purposes, and I shall 
always take delight in recommending Dobbins’ 
Floating Borax Soap to all my friends. 

“Mrs. D. W. Lever, Charlestown^ Mass.^^ 


“ I have used Dobbins’ Electric Soap for a great 
many years, and always find it as represented, and 
have never found any other soap equal to it. I was 
the first person to order it of my grocer in Plants- 
ville. One cake of your soap will go as far as three 
cakes of any other. 

“ Mrs. Sylvester Waterman, 

‘ ‘ PLantsvillej Conn. ’ ’ 

“ Some time ago my grocer asked me to try a cake 
of Dobbins’ Floating Borax Soap, which I did, and 
would say that I never tried a soap that is equal to 
yours. It is excellent. I use it in the bath and 
laundry. 

“ Mrs. a. H. Bailey, Boston^ Mass.’’ 


‘ ‘ I have been using your most excellent soap for 
the last four years. I could not do my washing 
without it. I shall use no other as long as I can gef 
Dobbins’ Electric Soap. It prevents the hands from 
chapping, and does not ruin the clothes, as many 
other laundry soaps do. 

“Mrs. D. a. Totten, Elmore^ Ohio.” 


“ I want the privilege of testifying, for the benefit 
of others, that Dobbins’ Floating-Borax Soap is the 
best soap made for household purposes. A friend ot 
mine in St. Paul recommended it to me, and I shall 
always take great pleasure in recommending it to all 
my friends, 

“Mrs. Anna Snow, Mariette^ Minn.” 


“ Ma wishes me to say that she has been using 
your Dobbins’ Electric Soap for many years, and has 
recommended it to all her friends, who say that it is 
the only soap to use if you wish to save clothes, your 
back, and time. 

“Miss M. Bailey, Chicago^ 111.” 


Ask your Grocer for Dobbins’ Electric Soap. Thirty years’ 

sale and reputation as the best and most economical Soap in the 
world. 

DOBBINS SOAP MFG. CO., PHILADELPHIA. 



For Children While Cutting Their Teeth. 

mi OM ami Well-Trlea M, 

ROR OVER RIRTV YEARS. 


MRS. WINSLOW’S SOOTHING SYRUP 

has been used for over FIFTY YEARS by MILLIONS of MOTHERS for their CHILDREN WHILE TEETH- 
ING, with PERFECT SUCCESS. IT SOOTHES THE CHILD, SOFTENS the GUMS, ALLAYS all PAIN, 
CURES WIND COLIC, and is the best remedy for DIARRHOEA. Sold by Druggists in every part of the 
world. Be sure and ask for Mrs. Winslow’s Sootbin^ Syrup, and take no other kind. 

TWENTY-FIVE CENTS A BOTTEE. 


Consumption Cured. — An old physician, retired from practice, had placed 
in his hands by an East India missionary the formula of a simple vegetable 
remedy for the speedy and permanent cure of Consumption, Bronchitis, Catarrh, 
Asthma, and all throat and lung affections, also a positive and radical cure 
for nervous debility and all nervous complaints. Having tested its wonderful 
curative powers in thousands of cases, and desiring to relieve human suffering, 
I will send free of charge, to all who wish it, this recipe, in German, French, or 
English, with full directions for preparing and using. Sent by mail, by ad- 
dressing, with stamp, naming this magazine, W. A. Noyes, 820 Powers^ Block, 
Rochester, New York. 


600 


CURRENT NOTES. 


The number of prisoners locked up in fourteen of the Western and Middle 
States is one hundred and ten thousand five hundred and thirty-eight, and of 
this vast number of offenders but one-sixth know how to read. 

Ancient Extravagance.— The great display of jewels by women of 
fashion on both sides of the ocean has been severely criticised, even by those 
who could well afford to wear them if they desired to. But if the precedent 
of history furnishes any justification for this fashion the jewel-wearers of the 
present day are thoroughly justified. According to Pliny, Lollia Paulina, the 
wife of Caligula, wore on her head, arms, neck, hands, and waist pearls and 
emeralds to the value of one million six hundred and eighty thousand dollars. 
Faustina had a ring worth two hundred thousand dollars. Domitia had one 
for three hundred thousand dollars, and Caesonia had a bracelet worth four 
hundred thousand dollars. Seneca bewails that one pearl in each ear no longer 
suffices to adorn a woman ; they must have three, the weight of which ought to 
be insupportable to them. 

There were women in ancient Kome whose sole occupation was the healing 
of the ears of the belles who had torn or otherwise injured the lobes with the 
weight of their pendants. Poppaea^s ear-rings were worth seven hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars, and Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia, had a pair valued at twice 
that sum. Marie de M^dicis had a dress made for the ceremony of the baptism 
of her children which was trimmed with thirty-two thousand pearls and three 
thousand diamonds, and at the last moment she found it was so heavy she 
couldn’t wear it and had to get another. But men led in the splendor of the 
Middle Ages, and Philip the Good of Burgundy often wore jewels valued at 
two hundred thousand dollars. When he walked along the streets, the people 
climbed over each other to get a look at him. The Duke of Buckingham wore 
a suit at the court of St. James which cost four hundred thousand dollars. The 
dress of the nobles during the Middle Ages was literally covered with gold and 
precious stones . — San Francisco Chronicle. 

A BOY at Kockland, Maine, had been informed by his mother that a pail 
which stood in the sink contained microbes. A short time afterward the lad 
was seen fishing in the pail, presumably for microbes. 

A Floating Island. — In certain places floating islands are not uncom- 
mon, but one seen three times in 1892 in the North Atlantic Ocean was not only 
a rare occurrence, but was besides of peculiar scientific interest. It was first 
seen on July 28, in latitude 39° 31^ N. and longitude 65° W. The second occasion 
was on August 26, in latitude 41° 49^ N. and longitude 50° 39^ W., and the 
third time was on September 19, in latitude 45° 29^ N. and longitude 42° 39' W. 
As it was never seen after that date, it is presumed the island was destroyed in 
the autumnal storms. 

On the three occasions the island was come upon it was moving toward the 
Azores at the rate of about a mile an hour. Its extent was about eight hundred 
feet each way, and it contained much forest growth, many of the trees thereon 
being fully thirty feet high. The finding of such an island in that section of 
the Atlantic is in itself a curious incident, but to scientists generally it is more 
interesting, as showing the possible migration of animals by this means, as put 
forth by Darwin. — Philadelphia Ledger. 



CURRENT NOTES. 


601 


921 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, March i, 1897. 


P ersons who insure in this institution become members of it ; in fact. They are the corpo- 
ration. There is no conflict of interest ; all are for each, and each is for all. 

? very payer of a premium is entitled to vote at every annual election for the trustees bv 
. ' whom the company is conducted. Nothing can divest this right. That it is not verv 
largely exercised shows unqualified approval of the management. 

M othing is better adapted to preserve equity among the members than perfect mutuality of 
interest. It is the embodiment and expression of Jeffersonian democracy,— “ equality 
before the law. ” ^ ^ 

M o principle of action has a wholesome utility unless practised ; and the principle of mutu- 
ality would be barren unless rigorously and conscientiously applied. This Company 
claims to do it, and the record sustains the claim. ^ ^ 

lUC embers assume uo obligation except the payment of premium, reserving the right to 
/A\ when they choose, withdrawing such values as may have accumulated to their 

individual credit. 

U sually the interest which the member bestows upon the affairs of the Company is no greater 
than said ; but when it is once understood that an interest in promoting its business 
means dollars saved, you and others will probably lend a helping hand to enlarge the 
operations of the Company. - ^ 

T he way to do this is, obviously, not to transform yourself into a life insurance solicitor 
(though there is no worthier calling when rightly pursued), but to give influential aid by 
endorsing your company where opportunity occurs, and by furnishing names of friends 
to our agents, or to this ofiice. 

jinv^ying as are the laws of mortality, and with interest nearly level or slightly declining 
the one chance to reduce the cost of reliable life insurance is in a reduction of the ex- 
penses of management, and this may not be achieved without your aid in the directions 
indicated. 

‘ Ithough the lap^s in this Company are comparatively small— less than in many companies 
t they are sufficient to affect the expense item. They are promoted by unscrupulous 
agents bent on securing a commission, regardless of the damage inflicted upon those 
induced to change from one company to another. Change is loss. 

L astiy, the suggestion is made that you help yourself by helping your associates.* Will you 
do It I 

Yours very truly. 


The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. 




THE BEST TOILET LUXURY AS A DENTIFRICE IN 
THE WORLD. 


CAMPHORATED 

SAPONACEOUS 


l^ice, Twenty-Five Cents a Jar. 


TO CLEANSE AND WHITEN THE TEETH, 

TO REMOVE TARTAR FROM THE TEETH, 

TO SWEETEN THE BREATH AND PRESERVE THE 
TEETH, 

TO MAKE THE GUMS HARD AND HEALTHY, 

USE BROWN’S CAMPHORATED SAPONACEOUS DENTIFRICE. 


DENTIFRICE 

FOR THE 

TEETH 


For Sale by all Druggists. 


/ 

\ 


■i 

ii 


About Pearline. — Every one knows about Pearline, almost every one 
uses Pearline, but we wonder if all the housekeepers who use it know half that 
can be done with it. We wonder if they all know what some of the bright 
ones have discovered, that those mountains of dish-washing — the greasy pan and 
kettle may be reduced to mole-hills of the smallest size by the judicious use of 
Pearline. Fill the roasting pan, as soon as the gravy is poured from it, with 
cold water shake in a little Pearline, and set on the stove. By the time the rest 
ot the dishes are washed all the grease is dissolved, and the pan can be washed 
as easily as a plate. Treat the kettle in which anything greasy has been boiled 
and beside clean utensils you will have a clean sink, the use 
ot the Pearline rendering it safe to pour such dish-water into it. Sinks regularly 
treated to a bath of Pearline and scalding water will seldom need the services 
ot a plumber.— Watchman^ Boston, Mass., December 12, 1889. 


602 


CURRENT NOTES. 


Egyptian Forestry. — Great gain has been made in forestry in the lower 
Nile valley in the last twenty years. This is credibly reported to have come 
from a memorial of an American citizen, George May Powell, to the Khedive 
in 1873. This memorial laid stress on the economic value of forests. This led 
to the issue of a sweeping edict, resulting in vast numbers of trees being planted 
in the Nile valley. 

Mr. Powell had previously sent a similar memorial to the Turkish governor 
of Syria, and at the request of public men in Alexandria and Cairo he duplicated 
it for the Khedive. On his return to this country he organized the American 
and Foreign Forest Council, through which, by aid of newspapers, he has scat- 
tered millions of popular tracts on forests. This agitation and education, more 
probably than any other cause, is the foundation of the tide of interest on this 
subject which has since risen in the United States. He organized the Forest 
Congress at the Centennial in 1876. 

This was no doubt the most influential council ever held on forestry in 
America. His address on Forests and Climate,’^ at the Pennsylvania State 
Fair in Philadelphia, in 1879, is a standard document . — The Presbyterian 
Journal. 

A TREE very similar to the rubber and often mistaken for it is the cow-tree 
of Nicaragua. This yields a liquid which is very much like milk in taste and 
appearance and more than once has been drunk in coffee by engineers. 

Things were All Right. — I was sitting with a North Carolina moun- 
taineer on his door-step after supper, when a young man of twenty came along 
on a mule and halted to exchange salutations. 

‘^Say, Joe,’^ called out my host, how’s times down yo’r way?” 

‘‘ Purty fa’r. Mister Gabbitt, — purty fa’r,” replied Joe. ‘‘Yo’ know Dan 
Copperfield and Tom Bailey? Wall, Dan popped Tom over t’other day. Yes, 
times are purty fa’r.” 

And how’s the licker question ?” 

Purty fa’r. Mister Gabbitt, — purty fa’r. Yo’ know Bill Wheedon and ole 
man Bishop ? Wall, they got to disputin’ ’bout the licker question, and the ole 
man he stabbed Bill to death. Yes, the licker question is purty fa’r.” 

‘‘Much doin’ in politics down thar?” continued the mountaineer, as he 
grew more interested. 

“ Yes, a leetle, Mister Gabbitt,— jes’ a leetle. Yo’ know Dave Williams 
and Sam Gunn? Wall, they got to goin’ it on politics, and Dave shoots Sam 
through the body. Mebbe he’ll git well, but we dunno. Yes, suthin’ doin’ in 
politics ; jes’ ’nuff to keep the water hot.” 

“ That’s right. Got any religion down thar, Joe ?” 

“ A purty considerable lot.” 

“And how might religion be?” 

“ Purty lively, Mister Gabbitt, — purty lively, considerin’ the drought and 
the ’tater-bugs. Yo’ know Si Tompkins and Abraham Skinner? Wall, they 
got to talkin’ religion t’other day, and Si allowed that Abraham lied, and Abra- 
ham allowed that Si was a fuel, and they cut each other with knives in a right 
smart way. Yes, purty lively, Mr. Gabbitt, — jes’ lively ’nuff to carry us 
through to cool weather and hev sunthin’ to talk about. I allow to consider, 
Mister Gabbitt — I allow to consider that things down our way are movin’ along 
purty fa’rish, and that we hain’t got no cause to complain.” — M. Quad, in Phila- 
delphia Press, 


The May Number 


OF 



IPPINCOTT'S 

MAGAZINE, 


READV ARRIL 


Will contain a Complete Novel entitled 


RSOH IllliOHETH’S IDEHTITY. 


BY 


VIRNA WOODS, 

Author of “The Amazons*' and “A Modern Magdalene. 

And the Usual Variety of Stories, Essays, 

Poems, etc. 


»r List of Complete Novels contained in Former Numbers, see Next Page. 

a 


THE COMPLETE NOVELS WHtcH HAVE ALREADY APPEARED IN 

LIPPINCOTT’S MAGAZINE, 


AND WHICH ARE ALWAYS OBTAINABLE, ARE! 

No. 


No. 

352. Ray’s Recruit Captain Charles King 

351. Dead Selves Julia Magruder 

350. Under the Pacific .... Clarence Herbert New 
349. Stockings Full of Money . Mary Kyle Dallas 
348. The Chase of an Heiress . . Christian Reid 

347. An Interrupted Current . . Howard M. Yost 

346. The Crown Prince of Rexania. 

Edward S. Van Zile 
345. A Marital Liability. Elizabeth Phipps Train 

344. The Great “ K. & A.” Train-Robbery. 

Paul Leicester Ford 
343. A Judicial Error .... Marion Manville Pope 
342. Prom Clue to Climax .... Will N. Harben 
341. An Impending Sword. Horace AnnesleyVachell 

340. Flotsam Owen Hall 

339. A Whim and a Chance . . William T. Nichols 
338. Ground-Swells .... Jeannette H. Walworth 
337. Mrs. Crichton’s Creditor . . Mrs. Alexander 
336. The Old Silver Trail . . . Mary E. Stickney 
335. In Sight of the Goddess. Harriet Riddle Davis 
334. My Strange Patient . . . William T. Nichols 

333. A Case in Equity Francis Lynde 

332. Little Lady Lee . . . Mrs. H, Lovett Cameron 
331. A Social Highwayman. Elizabeth Phipps Train 
330. The Battle of Salamanca. Benito P6rezGald6s 
329. The Lady of Las Cruces . . . Christian Reid 
328. Alain of Halfdene . . . Anna Robeson Brown 
327. A Tame Surrender . . Captain Charles King 
326. The Chapel of Ease . . . Harriet Riddle Davis 
325. The Waifs of Fighting Rocks. 

Charles Mcllvaine 

324. Mrs. Hallam’s Companion. 

Mrs. Mary J. Holmes 

323. Dora’s Defiance Lady Lindsay 

322. A Question of Courage . . . Francis Lynde 

321. Captain Molly Mary A. Denison 

320. Sweetheart Manette . . . Maurice Thompson 

319. Captain Close Captain Charles King 

318. The Wonder- Witch .... M. G. McClelland 

317. A Professional Beauty. Elizabeth Phipps Train 
316. The Plying Halcyon . . Richard Henry Savage 

316. A Desert Claim Mary B. Stickney 

314. The Picture of Las Cruces . . Christian Reid 

318. The Colonel Harry Willard French 

312. Sergeant Croesus .... Captain Charles King 
311. An Unsatisfactory Lover .... The Duchess 
310. The Hepburn Line . . . Mrs. Mary J. Holmes 
309. A Bachelor’s Bridal. . . . H. Lovett Cameron 
308. In the Midst of Alarms .... Robert Barr 
307. The Troublesome Lady . Patience Stapleton 
306. The Translation of a Savage. Gilbert Parker 

305. Mrs. Romney Rosa Noucheue Carey 

304. Columbus in Love . . George Alfred Townsend 
303. Waring’s Peril . . . Capi. Charles King, II.S.A. 

302. The First Plight Julien Gordon 

301. A Pacific Encounter . . . Mary E. Stickney 

300. Pearce Amer son’s Will. 

Richard Malcolm Johnston 

299. More than Kin Marion Harland 

298. The Kiss of Gold Kate Jordan 

297. The Doomswoman Gertrude Atherton 

296. The Martlet Seal. . . . Jeannette H. Walworth 

295. White Heron M. G. McClelland 

294. John Gray (A Kentucky Tale of the Olden Time). 

James Lane Allen 

293. The Golden Fleece .... Julian Hawthorne 
292. But Men Must Work . Rosa Nouchette Carey 
291. A Soldier’s Secret . Capt. Charles King, U.S.A. 
290. Roy the Royalist William Westall 


289. The Passing of Major Kilgore 

Young E. Allison 

288. A Pair Blockade-Breaker . . T. C. De Leon 

287. The Duke and the Commoner. 

Mrs. Poultney Bigelow 

286. Lady Patty The. Duchess 

285. Carlotta’s Intended . . . Ruth McEnery Stuart 
284. A Daughter’s Heart . Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron 
283. A Rose of a Hundred Leaves. Amelia E. Barr 
282. Gold of Pleasure . . . George Parsons Lathrop 

281. Vampires Julien Gordon 

280. Maiden’s Choosing . . . Mrs. Ellen Olney Kirk 
279. The Sound of a Voice . . Frederick S. Cozzens 

278. A Wave of Life Clyde Fitch 

277. The Light that Failed . . Rudyard Kipling 
276. An Army Portia . . Capt. Charles King, U.S.A. 
275. A Laggard in Love . Jeanie Gwynne Bettany 

274. A Marriage at Sea W. Clark Russell 

273. The Mark of the Beast. 

Katharine Pearson Woods 

272. What Gold Cannot Buy . . Mrs. Alexander 
271. The Picture of Dorian Gray . . Oscar Wilde 
270. Circumstantial Evidence . Mary E. Stickney 
269. A Sappho of Green Springs . . . Bret Harte 

268. A Cast for Fortune Christian Reid 

267. Two Soldiers .... Capt. Charles King, U.S.A. 
266. The Sign of the Pour .... A Conan Doyle 
265. Millicent and Rosalind . . Julian Hawthorne 

264. All He Knew John Habberton 

263. A Belated Revenge. Dr. Robt. Montgomery Bird 

262. Creole and Puritan T. C. De Leon 

261. Solarion Edgar Fawcett 

260. An Invention of the Enemy. W.H. Babcock 
259. Ten Minutes to Twelve . M. G. McClellanc 
258. A Dream of Conquest . . General Lloyd Brice 
257. A Chain of Errors .... Mrs. E. W. Latimer 
256. The Witness of the Sun . . . Amelie Rives 

255. Bella-Demonia Selina Dolaro 

254. A Transaction in Hearts .... Edgar Saltus 

263. Hale- Weston M. Elliot Seawell 

251. Earthlings Grace King 

250. Queen of Spades, and Autobiography. E. P. Roe 
249. Herod and Mariamne. 

A Tragedy Amelie Rives 

248. Mammon Maude Howe 

247. The Yellow Snake Wm. Henry Bishop 

246. Beautiful Mrs. Thorndyke. 

Mrs. Poultney Bigelow 

245. The Old Adam H. H. Boyesen 

244. The Quick or the Dead ? . . . Am61ie Rives 
243. Honored in the Breach . . . Julia Magruder 
242. The Spell of Home. 

After the German of E. Werner. Mrs. A. L. Wister 
241. Check and Counter-Check. 

Brander Matthews and George H. Jessop 

239. The Terra-Cotta Bust . . Virginia W. Johnson 
238. Apple Seed and Brier Thorn. Louise Stockton 
237. The Red Mountain Mines. Lew Vanderpoole 


236. A Land of Love Sidney Luska 

235. At Anchor Julia Magruder 

234. The Whistling Buoy .... Charles Barnard 

232. Douglas Duane Edgar Fawcett 

231. Kenyon’s Wife Bucy C. Lillie 

230. A Self-Made Man M. G. McClelland 

229. Sinfire Julian Hawthorne 

228. Miss Defarge .... Frances Hodgson Burnett 
227. Brue ton’s Bayou John Habberton 


SINGLE NUMBERS, 25 CENTS. $3.00 PER YEAR 

b 


V A 


LIPPINCOTT8 MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



CAPTAIN CHARLES KING^S 
POPULAR MILITARY NOVELS 


" As descriptions of life at an army post, and the vicissitudes, trials, and heroisms of army life on the 
plains in what are called ‘ times of peace,’ the novels of Captain King are worthy of a high and perma- 
nent place in American literature. They will hereafter take rank with Cooper’s novels as distinctively 
American works of fiction .” — Army and Navy Register, Washington, D.C. 

The CoIonePs Daughter* Under Fire* 

Captain Blake* Marion^s Faith* 

Foes in Ambush (Paper, 50 centsj. 
i2mo. Cloth, illustrated, $1.25. 


Waring^s Peril* 

i2mo. Cloth, $1.00. 


Trials of a Staff Officer* 


Trooper Ross and Signal Butte* 

8vo. Cloth, illustrated, $1.50. 

Kitty's Conquest* 

Laramie; or. The Queen of Bedlam* 

Two Soldiers, and Dunraven Ranch* 

Starlight Ranch, and Other Stories* 

The Deserter, and From the Ranks* 

A Soldier's Secret, and An Army Portia* 

Captain Close, and Sergeant Croesus* 

i2mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. 

A Tame Surrender* A Story of the Chicago Strike. - 

i6mo. Polished buckram, illustrated, 75 cents. Issued in the Lotos Library. 

EDITOR OF 

The Colonel's Christmas Dinner, and Other Stories* 

i2mo. Cloth, $1.25; paper, 50 cents. 

An Initial Experience, and Other Stories* 

Captain Dreams, and Other Stories* 

i2mo. Cloth, $1.00 ; paper, 50 cents. 

“ From the lowest soldier to the highest officer, from the servant to the master, there is not a 
character in any of Captain King’s novels that is not wholly in keeping with expressed sentiments. 
There is not a movement made on the field, not a break from the ranks, not an offence against the 
military code of discipline, and hardly a heart-beat that escapes his watchfulness .” — Boston Herald, 


Sold by Booksellers everywhere, or mailed, upon receipt of price, by the Publishers, 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, 

715 and 717 Market Street, Philadelphia* 


LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


• • To the Public • • 


CHAMBERS’S ENCYCLOP/EDIA 

^11897 EDITION !-!- 

is a notable improvement on all other encyclopaedias. It is as near perfect as human 
skill and modern progress can make it. The order and method of treatment make 
its information more readily accessible than any other work of reference. It is the 
standard of excellence the wide world over, being thoroughly international in charac- 
ter, and for American readers has the advantage of being as full and more accurate on 
subjects pertaining to this country than other encyclopaedias originating and edited 
here. It is not the highest in price, but the highest in scholarly treatment. 

All its subjects are so arranged that the uneducated, as well as the learned, can, 
without difficulty, find the information required, and the subject of each article is 
treated in such a lucid, simple, and popular style that the meaning is easily appre- 
hended even in the discussion of abstruse themes. The information conveyed is like- 
wise of a practical character, adapted to prepare young people for the battle of life. 
These qualifications alone make this new edition an absolute necessity in every home. 

No one, however busy, can afford to be a day without a first-class, up-to-date ency- 
clopaedia. Every one that reads, every one that mingles in society, is constantly meet- 
ing with allusions to subjects on which he needs and desires further information. In 
conversation, questions are continually arising which no man, well-read or not, can 
always satisfactorily answer. If the encyclopaedia is at hand it will be consulted, and 
not only is the curiosity gratified, but also the stock of knowledge increased, and 
perhaps ideas are suggested that may directly contribute to the business success of the 
party concerned. 

Here is a rare opportunity to give the boys a chance, and the girls, too. We claim 
emphatic superiority for it in every respect, as it is beyond a doubt the most satis- 
factory Encyclopaedia now published. No other has ever excelled it in literary quality. 
We invite a careful examination of the volumes, and critical comparison with other 
similar works, feeling confident that the result will readily demonstrate the truth of 
these statements. 

The articles in the various departments have been contributed by over looo writers 
familiar with the results of learned research, scientific investigation, and literary culture. 

Subscribers to Chambers’s Encyclopedia (1897 Edition) may therefore feel satis- 
fied that they will be possessors of a work that will give them, in a nutshell, accurate 
information upon every imaginable topic, and for those who desire to follow up the 
subject, a list of the highest authorities is appended to the more important articles. 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, Publishers, 

PHILADELPHIA, PA. 

2 ! 


LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTmER. 


A FEW QUESTIONS ANSWERED ON SUBJECTS 
!( OF GENERAL INTEREST 

! BY 

iChambers’s Encyclopaedia 

I (1897 EDITION.) 


11 It covers tlie whole field of human knowledge. All its articles are clear, comprehensive, and 
[[ up-to-date. 

H THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS are suggestive and interesting. They are not selected to em- 
jj brace the scholarly articles contained in the work, but will serve to convey some idea of the scope, 
II excellence, and practical value of the work. 

The numbers after each question refer to the volume and page of the New Chambers’s Ency- 
clopaedia where the answer may be found. 


I What is the legal acceptance of a bill of exchange 
in England and the United States? Vol. I., page 

1 ^ 9 - 

I What is ambergris, and why is it worth its weight 
;= in gold? Vol. I., page 210. 

'' What race of men only average 4 feet 3 inches in 
' height, and where are they found? Vol. I., page 
" 85. 

What building had 20.000 men employed on its con- 
I struction for over 22 years? Vol. I., page 95. 

1 What peculiar creature, half bird and half quadru- 
1 ped, exists in Australia? Vol. I., page 590. 

IJl Give the names of all the great men who were assas- 
sinated since B.C. 44 up to 1896. Vol. I., page 503. 

'J In what year was the first bank established in the 
United States? Vol. I., page 713. 

^ Explain the meaning of Bacteria. Vol. I., page 645. 

i Where is the bird-catching spider found, and how 
„ large is it? Vol. II., page 175. 

1 Where is Birnam Woods, that Shakespeare immor- 
talized in “Macbeth”? Vol. II., page 180. 

K Where is the tree found upon which bread grows, 
!* and the bark is made into clothing by the natives? 

8 " Vol. II. page 412. 

What is a Biretta? Vol. II., page 176. 

I Who was the foremost orator of ancient Rome, and 
i what are his most famous speeches? Vol. III., page 
248. 

What celebrated diamond is preserved among the 
national jewels of Paris, estimated to be now worth 
II $2,400,000? Vol. III., page 792. 

jj When was slavery finally abolished in Cuba ? Vol. 

B ill., page 603. 

Where is the celebrated Castle of Chillon, immor- 
talized by Byron’s “Prisoner of Chillon.” Vol. III., 
page 1 81. 

What Central American Governments constitute the 
Greater Republic of Central America, as officially rec- 
ognized by President Cleveland, December 23, 1896. 
Vol. III., page 64. 

What is the name of the bird that makes the edible 
„ nest, prized as a luxurious dish by the Chinese, who 
|! pay as much as $7.00 for a single nest ? Vol. IV., page 

L 198. 

“ What epoch is the first hiiman point in the history 
H of Ancient Egypt? Vol. IV., page 238. 

r 

I 


What State adopted electrocution as a method of 
capital punishment in 1896? Vol. IV., page 495. 

What was the origin of Hamlet, the hero of Shake- 
speare’s greatest tragedy ? and what is the story of 
Hamlet? Vol. V., page 533. 

What city in Ireland did the Lynch law first origi- 
nate in ? and in what year? Vol. V., page 70. 

What is meant by the term Horseless Carriage? 
Vol. V., page 796. 

Who was the oldest Greek historian, .styled the 
“Father of History” ? Vol. V., page 391. 

Describe the gila monster ; and where is he found 
in this country? Vol. V., page 208. 

How did the vote for McKinley, November 3, 1896, 
compare with that of other Presidential candidates? 
Vol, VI., page 777. 

Name the city most beautifully situated in the 
whole world. Vol. VH,, page 387. 

What is meant by morganatic marriage ? Vol. VII., 
page 307. 

How long was Nansen absent on the expedition from 
which he returned in 1896? Vol. VII., page 383. 

What is Palaeography, and what has it accomplished ? 
Vol. VII., page 702. 

What metal is set on fire by being thrown into water ? 
Vol. VIH., page 352. 

The Rosetta Stone furnished the key with which to 
decipher ancient hieroglyphics. How? Vol. VIII., 
page 810. 

What country has a railroad that uses only a single 
rail for passengers and traffic? Vol. VIH., page 557. 

The Irish potato is not Irish by birth. What coun- 
try did it come from, and when was it introduced into 
Europe? Vol. VIII., page 354. 

What city has a beautiful tower, 180 feet in height, 
leaning 14 feet out of the perpendicular? Vol. VIH., 
page 195. 

What chemical is 250 times sweeter than sugar? 
Vol. IX,, page 62. 

When was Sir William Siemens born, and where? 
What discovery did he make by the use of electricity ? 
Vol. IX., page 439, 

Where was Stanley, the great explorer, born ? Vol, 
IX., page 681. 

On what date, and in what month, was Utah ad- 
mitted as a State in 1896. Vol. X., page 409. 


See next page for a fuller description of the special introductory offer of the 

New Chambers’s Encyclopaedia in connection with Lippincott’s Magazine. 


3 


LIPPINCOTT’8 MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


Our Great Special 

Introductory Offer 

'fHE PUBLISHERS OF LIPPINCOTT’S MAGAZINE are offering to the public that inval- 
uable reference library^ 

Chambers’s Encyclopaedia (1897 Edition), 

In connection with the Magazine, at a very great reduction from the regular price. The first 
payment of one dollar cash secures the complete set at once, together with the Magazine for 
twelve months. You practically pay the balance at your leisure, as it only takes a few cents a 
day. Through this liberal offer you have the* opportunity of placing in your home a most popular 
Magazine of recognized high rank, and an Encyclopaedia of superlative merit. 


UP=TO=DATE EDITION, 


UP=TO-DATE TERMS. 



Bindings are Extra Cloth, Half Leather, Full Sheep, Full Leather. 

$1.00 Cash secures the Set, and you have your choice of Binding. 

This is the only genuine Chamberses Encyclopcedia. Others claiming to be such are out of date^ 

garbled^ and defective in most important respects. 

consists of ten large octavo volumes, containing over 30,000 

Articles, about 100 Beautiful Double-Page Colored Maps and 

Charts (up-to-date), 300 Full-Page Engravings, 3500 Superior Illustrations in the Text, 17,600 
Columns of Reading Matter, about 9000 Pages, and 11,000,000 Words. 

Over 1000 Scholarly Contributors. International in Character. Thoroughly revised by 
English and American editors up to date of printing. This edition has been in preparation during 
several years in England and in this country, and its revision has cost an enormous sum of money. 
The entire range of human knowledge is comprehended in its scope. Its subjects embrace 
The Arts, Biography, History, Geography, Mechanical Arts, Natural History, Theology, Architecture, 
Sciences, Astronomy, Law, Medicine, Chemistry, Electricity, Exploration, etc., etc. 

4 



LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


Our Great Special Introductory Offer. 


Aliy reference work from five to twenty years old is unreliable and worthless. 

No steps backward, but a long step forward has been the aim of the thoughtful editors 
and publishers of this New Kdition. 

IT IS THE BEST. All subjects are easily found, information is easily ascertained, 

— - and the meaning is easily comprehended. 

COMPRKHKNSIVKNKSS, SIMPLICITY, ACCURACY, AND KxcellKNCK have ever been the aim of 
the editors and publishers. Mere verbiage is scrupulously avoided. When twelve words are suffi- 
cient, twelve words only are used ; if a whole chapter is necessary, a whole chapter is given. 

THIS GREAT WORK adequately treats scientific or other subjects of a high nature, and like- 
wise contains the plain, practical, every-day knowledge most sought for by the masses. 

Here is what you are looking for. a complete, up-to-date Encyclopaedia 

^ — that will give you all the information at 

little expense and on easy terms. This is the Home Library of the day. The Family Book of 
the age. 

The Encyclopedia is the ever-present, well-informed, judicious teacher ministering to the 
mental growth of the boys who have daily access to its educational influence. 

“ Books are the windows through which the soul looks out. A home without books is like 
a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding 
them with books, if he has the means to pay for them.” — Henry Ward Beecher. 

Bear in mind these volumes are mechanically perfect, and are beautifully printed from new 
plates on a superior quality of book paper, clear new type, handsomely and durably bound, 
stamped in pure gold leaf, and, in a word, bear throughout the marks of artistic bookmaking. 

The work is delivered on receipt of $i.00 cash. Balance in easy monthly payments. 

The expense of delivery must be paid by the subscriber. 

YOU GET THE MAGAZINE FREE FOR TWELVE MONTHS. 


SEE HOW LATE IT IS. 

Below are a few of the many new subjects to 
be found in this New Up-To-Date Edition : 

Rontgen. The X-Rays. 

Electrocution adopted by Ohio, July i, i8g6. 

Cuban Revolution. 

The New Greater Republic of Central America recog- 
nized by President Cleveland, Dec. 23, 1896. 
McKinley and Hobart. 

Dr. Nansen. Rudyard Kipling. 

Horseless Carriage. Etc., Etc. 


A few of the many endorsements received : 

New York World.— is one of the most valuable 
works of reference in existence.” 

New York School Journal. — “The scholarly character 
of the new edition is apparent to all, placing the work 
in the highest rank.” 

London Daily Chronicle. — “We have consulted it con- 
stantly, with increasing admiration for its uniform 
accuracy.” 

Glasgow Mail. — “It is a thoroughly practical book, 
suited to the wants of the great mass of readers, and it 
is easy of reference. To go for some particular fact to 
certain pretentious works is like searching in the pro- 
verbial haystack for a needle; in Chambers’s we get the 
facts at once.” 


Please sign name and address plainly in annexed inquiry coupon, cut it out, and mail it 
immediately to Lippincott’s Magazine, 715 and 717 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pa., and an 
illustrated prospectus of about 60 specimen pages, colored maps, plates, etc., will be mailed free. 

REMEMBER, “ procrastination is the thief of time,” so mail the coupon to us to-day. You 
might forget to do so to-morrow. 



INQUIRY COUPON. (Cut this out.) 

Please send me Prospectus with sample pages, engravings, etc., as I 
am anxious to have full information regarding your liberal offer of the 
New Chambers’s Encyclopaedia in connection with your Magazine. 


Name, 

Address, . 


^ Lippincott’s Magazine, 715 and 717 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa. 

ii 5 


J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY’S 


Spring Announcements, 1897. 


Commentaries on the Laws of England 

In four books. By Sir William Blackstone, Knt. With Notes selected from the 
editions of Arclibold, Christian, Coleridge, Chitty, Stewart, Kerr, and others, 
Barron Field’s “ Analysis” and additional Notes, and a Fife of the author. By 
George Sharswood. Two volumes. 8vo. The price heretofore has been $10.00^ 
blit is now reduced to $6.00 per set, in sheep. 

The present edition of the commentaries of Sir William Blackstone has been 
prepared with especial reference to the use of American law students. The main 
object of the notes, selected and original, has been to correct any statement in itself 
erroneous ; and to explain what might be calculated to mislead in some cases where 
the text appeared to pass over important topics, they have been introduced in order 
to render the book complete as an institute of legal education. 

The attention of the student is especially called to the notes added to the last 
chapter of the work, on the rise, progress, and gradual improvement of the laws of 
England ; for valuable sketches, by Coleridge, John William Smith, Stewart, Warren, 
and Kerr, of the latest enactments, to which the American editor has ventured to add 
some remarks upon American jurisprudence. Barron Field’s “Analysis” — a most 
important aid to the student in the work of self-examination — has been added at 
the end. 

The Evolution of the Constitution of the United States. 

Showing that it is a Development of Progressive History, and not an isolated docu- 
ment struck off at a given time or an imitation of English or Dutch forms of 
Government. By Sydney George Fisher, author of “The Making of Penn- 
sylvania.” i2mo. Polished buckram, $1.50. 

Previous histories of the Constitution have described its adoption in 1788, and 
its changes or development since that date. The few works which have touched on 
its sources or origin have treated it as invented by the convention which framed it, 
or have sought in European countries for forms of government which were like it or 
might have suggested its various provisions. 

Mr. Fisher has adopted an entirely different line of research, and has traced 
back every material clause in the Constitution through previous American documents 
and forms of government in colonial times. He reaches the conclusion, supported 
by abundant evidence, that the Constitution is a purely native product, developed 
step by step on American soil, through more than one hundred and fifty years of the 
colonial period. 

It is the first book of its kind, and a complete history of colonial government 
and American ideas of government previous to the year 1788. 

6 


J. B. Lippincott Company’s Spring Announcements. 

The Railway Builder. 

A Hand-Book for Estimating the Probable Cost of American Railway Construction 
and Equipment. By William Jasper Nicolls, M.Am.Soc.C.E., author of 
“The Stor}^ of American Coals,” etc. Fifth Edition, Revised and enlarged. 
i6mo. Einip leather, i6mo, for the pocket, $2.00. 

In the present edition the entire work has been carefully revised and brought 
up to date. It has also received many additions, the page enlarged, and a new form 
of binding adopted, so as to render the volume suitable both for the library and 
pocket. 

The author has added fifteen years to his professional life, and has learned many 
useful facts, which, as far as practicable, are set forth in this edition for the benefit 
of the unprofessional reader, for time has shown that to such the book has been 
useful. 

Capitalists who put their money in American railways, contractors who build 
them, and the host of practical men operating them, will find in the pages of the book 
plain and simple directions for estimating on the first cost or for renewals, while the 
young engineer will find much that heretofore has been covered with many formulas 
and tedious analyses. 

The British Mercantile Marine. 

A short Historical Review, including the Rise and Progress of British Shipping and 
Commerce, the Education of the Merchant Officer, and Duty and Discipline in 
the Merchant Service. By Edward Blackmore. i2mo. Cloth, $1.50. 

With a view to affording the merchant officer an opportunity for self-training and 
cultivation, the publishers have promoted their “ Nautical Series” of works treating 
of the various sciences with which it is absolutely necessary that the modern mer- 
chant officer should be acquainted. These works will speak for themselves. 

The present volume does not^ of course, pretend to be in any way exhaustive of 
the history of the British mercantile marine, nevertheless it will afford a sufficient 
outline of its past and present to be both interesting and instructive to those who 
care to know anything of the rise and progress of our merchant navy. 

Siam 

ON THK Mkinam, from THE GuEF TO AyuThia, together with Three Romances 
illustrative of Siamese Eife and Customs. By Maxwell Sommerville, Pro- 
fessor of Glyptology, Universit}^ of Pennsylvania. With a map and fifty full- 
page illustrations. 8vo. Cloth, ornamental gilt, uncut edges, $3.00. 

The author, on arriving in Bangkok and demanding a book on Siam, received 
the general reply, “ What you require does not exist. If you will prepare a popular 
notice of our country, we shall be pleased to have it at our disposal.” Destiny led 
him to the jungle of Ayiithia. On retracing his steps from that unique journey he 
wrote the following sketches on his personal experiences in that country, and created 
the incidents in the story of “ Phya-Rama-Ma-Dua,” the .sketch of “The Fruit- 
Growers of Muang Pimai,” and “The Fable of the Crippled Hare,” as an original 
means of illustrating phases in Siamese life and customs, combined with the history 
of the river Meinam and of the people of the northern provinces, which these 
romances are intended to portray. 


7 


J. B. Lippincott Company’s Sprii^ Anno«»c«n»{S*s. 

Frankenstein; or. The Modem Pnaenetheus. 

By Mary Wollstonecraft SbeBey, A Xeir i.»ol OoidL 

The masterpiece of Mrs, Shelley has rai^y, if im ai iimai axwe 

attractive than this. The cover deagn in acud ^r^^eeiL miti tracKsies in hncwii^ 
the charming views of places mentioned in the text, aojd the exce&Btt tTpc^mphy, 
make up a book-lover"s harmony. Frankenstein ' has nener kis: WTSticaL chum, 

and each new generation demands a standard edhSon hke this. 



A Northern Seasonal. Part TV, The Book cf Winter. IlinECrEteiL 4S0L Frahossec 
leather, $2.00, net. 

The fourth number of The Evergreen’’'’ has amoi^ coBtitbufixs : J. Arthur 
Thomson, Sir George Douglas, Fiona Madeod. Ximmo Christ 5 e. Standish 
O’ Grady, Patrick Geddes. Head- and tail-pieces deagned and drxwn by NelBc 
Baxter, Annie Mackie, EfBe Ramsay, and John Duncan. 

Four volumes in a box. The Book of Spring,'’^ ^ The rf Scnrmer.” 

“ The Book of Autumn, The Book of Winter. ' :$t._aoL nen 

“ One admires the richly embossed cotet, the *‘The 'whaie nrimgirg- » -r-rfipfc?^ 25 -riit 
finely-toned paper, the handsome printing, the binding .’' — ^EStrm Ue e nr y Wnrii, 
wealth of Celtic ornament. — The Scotsman^ 


Getting Gold. 


A Practical Treatise for Prospectors, Miners, and Smdents- By J. C. F. Jchnson. 

F.G.S., author of Practical Mining/" The Genr^aoiogy ot Goid." 

etc. Illustrated. i2mo. Cloth, $1.50. 

Some six years ago the author published a small icKk eastirkd “Practical 
Mining,” designed specially for the use of those engaged in tie ^wsj^ sscfnating. 
though not as invariably profitable, pnrsnit of g etting gy-ld. Of this 
copies were sold, nearly all in Australatia, and the wock s xm otiL of pcim. The 
London Mining Journal of September 9, 1891, stid of it. We hare seScOTa sees a 
book in which so much interesting matter, co mb ri^ -ahi nsenal iaiciirzaatioa. » 
given in so small a space.” The goM-mirnng indnstrj ^kh t m crxesderaiiAw 
since 1891, and it appeared to the writer that the pie^m woBid be a propitious time 
to bring out a similar work, but with a conato^bly enlarged Whsl has been 

aimed at is to make '' Getting Gold” a coan^mdinm. in sxxssXkr concxeSe imm, of 
useful information respecting the processes of -H riTrnrng the soil aad dK: after- 
treatment of gold and gold ores, including some orighml practical ^socMreries by the 
author. Practical information, original and sekrled. is gjrai to miaiag oosapasj 
directors, mine managers, quartz mill operators, and pr^K^ecsors. I» Rales of 
^Thumb,” chapters XI. and XII., will he fimnd a large mnaber of wrfgl hastU <m 
subjects directly and indirectl}" connected with golfd-mraain^ The ntiKT s 
experience extends back thirt3^ 37ears, and he thered«re reastares to befiere with 
some degree of confidence, that the informatioai, original or compikd, whidli the 
book contains, will be found both usefol and pro&able to those who are hi awr 
capacity interested in the gold-mining industry. 


8 


J- B. lippmcott Company’s Spring Announcements. 

Lfppincotfs Medical Dictionary. 

A C6m!gIje&:\bcaht[laTy of the Terms used in Medicine and the Allied Sciences, with' 
t^Qsnr PtT!iiimicration, Etymology, and Signification, including much Highly 
Vatosthle Infermation of a Descriptive and Encyclopaedic Character. Prepared 
M tfc Basis of ‘‘Thomas’s Complete Medical Dictionary,” hy Ryland W. 
Greene^ with the editorial collaboration of John Ashhurst, Jr., M.D., 

Ihrtoa Professor of Surgery and Professor of Clinical Surger 3 " in the University 
Ptopsylvania ; George A. Piersol, M.D., Professor of Anatomy in the 
Oanrersrty of Pennsylvania; Joseph P. Remington, Ph.M., F.C.S., Professor 
ei Theory and Practice of Pharmacy in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. 
CompfeGe in one imperial octavo volume of about iioo pages. Cloth, sheep, 
haTf jbrssfa. Said by mbscription only. 

It has Been the aim of editors and publishers in producing an entirely new and 
-tnTar^d eeStfon of Thomas’s Medical Dictionary” to bring the book abreast of 
me: tnnes, mot only by presenting all that is latest and best in medical hterature, but 
ilso By develhpmg that material according to the most approved methods of modem 
jEgirtji^rap-hy, It was thought best not to trust the work to a single hand, but by 
sfeerzng: a: corps of collaborators whose names are authoritative in their several 
feparmients. to give: the book a freedom from personal bias and an authority' of state- 
near wfefeh: couM not otherwise be attained. The medical profession generally will 
agree, it fe Believed, that a better selection could not have been made. The names 
if Ik:. Jfefrn Ashhurst, Jr. , Dr. George A. Piersol, and Professor Joseph P. Remington 
me well known to need special comment. The particular appropriateness of 
mEse gentfemen fer such a work is evident. Combining the experience of practi- 
ukuets. Bterary workers, scientific investigators, and teachers, the 3 " can appreciate 
mi simply the varied needs of such a work as the present one. Their knowledge, 
jamBmeti with the lexicographical experience of Dr. Russell H. Xevins and Mr. 

W- feeeue, guarantees the utmost accuracy in the work as well as the utmost 
isedrhiess ek its contents. 

Ube pljaaz titnm^haut has been to give complete., accurate., and useful infonnatimi cmi- 
draeiry rrmcEical term that a student, physician, or general reader would be likely to 
masf SB idbe of his study and reading. 

.Jk dbe esservce of a dictionary lies in its definitions, the utmost care has been expetided 
m 99m£fyrmg iJids pccrt of the work particularly excellent. The constant endeavor has been 
Ht mads tfts explasmiian of each word distinct and full without verbosity. MTien a word 
several drflferent meanings, the differences are carefully marked, clearness being 
hy the use of numbers to distinguish the different senses. In addition to 
aanpiene definitton of all the vocabulary terms, certain of the more important head- 
rigs hawre received treatment of a more or less encyclopaedic nature : thus, imder 
rnpcartant organs an outline is given of their stmcture and function ; under each 
frag:, some account of its action, therapeutic uses, official preparations, and dose ; 
mder the chfef diseases, an idea of their symptoms, cause, and treatment. In every 
iKse complete list of the synon^^ms of a word is given after its definition. This 
wmdotamnt of ewcydopcedic matter with an unabridged vocabulary constitutes one of the 
Thirnass Dictionary. 

The mstism of indicating or expressing pronunciation adopted in this work is new 
gm£ Tt is ba^ed on the scientific principles of phonetics as recognized by the best 

and other countries. 


9 


J. B. Lippincott Company’s Spring Announcements. 


A Text-Book of Gemto-Urinary Surgery and Venereal Diseases. 


Including the Pathology, Etiology, Symptomatology, Diagnosis, and Surgical and 
Medical Treatment of Genito-Urinary Diseases and Syphilis. By J. William 
White, M.D., and Edward Martin, M.D. Intended for Physicians and 
Students. One octavo volume of about eleven hundred pages. Profusely Illus- 
trated. 8 VO. Cloth. Sold^by subscription only. 


Professor Osier, of Johns Hopkins, says : 

“I have just been looking over the section j wonderfully clear and direct, and the illustra- 
on syphilis with much interest and profit. It is | tioiis are A i.” 

Bransford Lewis, Professor of Genito-Urinary Surgery, College of Physicians 


and Surgeons, St. Louis, says : 

In examining White and Martin’s ‘ Genito- 
Urinary Diseases and Syphilis,’ I am forcibly 
impressed with several points in its make-up ; 
with its eminent directness in presenting the 
topics with which it treats ; with the wise dis- 
crimination shown in selecting these, and the 
amount of space and attention given to each, 
favoring the practical and serviceable, and leav- 
ing for more specialized works extended dispu- 
tation on theories and unsettled questions ; its 
unreserved adoption for actual use the well- 
established, even though recent, doctrines of 
pathology of advanced genito-urinary investi- 
gators, furnishing as they do a substantial and 
lucid basis both for understanding and remem- 
bering the various phases of symptomatology, 
treatment, prognosis, etc. In the chapters on 
gonorrhoea, for instance, the pathology is so 
definitely given as to make unmistakably plain 
the relationship of this disease to other urethral 


inflammations, a question that is as ‘ mixed’ in 
the literature as in the infections that give rise 
to it. The faculty of making things plain is 
shown, too, in the discussion of urethral fever, 
a subject that is often treated in such an involved 
manner as to leave the reader in greater confu- 
sion than when he began its study. 

“ While the authors have shown their readi- 
ness and ability to make use of what is well 
established in modern teachings, they have exer- 
cised judicious conservatism in refraining from 
tracking the inviting paths of still-questioned 
beliefs or irrational fads. 

“Their book, in a word, is an instructive 
and reliable guide for the student, both pre- and 
post-graduate, of genito-urinary diseases.” 

Professor Lewis adds : “In my estimation it 
is the best work on the subject in the English 
language to-day.” 


The Practice of Medicine. 


By Horatio C. Wood, M.D., LL.D. (Yale), Professor of Therapeutics and Clinical 
Professor of Nervous Diseases in the University of Pennsylvania ; Member of 
the National Academy of Science, and Reginald H. Fitz, A.M., M.D., Hersey 
Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic in Harvard University ; Visiting 
Physician to the Massachusetts General Hospital ; formerly Shattuck Professor 
of Pathological Anatomy in Harvard University. Complete in one handsome 
octavo volume of about one thousand one hundred pages. Cloth, sheep, half 
Russia. Sold only by subscription. 


‘ ‘ This work, whose appearance was aniioun ced 
quite some time since, has fully realized the ex- 
pectations which were entertained in regard to 
it. The authors are well known as writers, and 
have each made a number of valuable contri- 
butions to medical literature. The work before 
us is a good one in every respect, and is in 
addition a splendid example of collaboration 
in writing .”— Louis Medical and Surgical 
Journal. 

“ This work is a departure from ordinary 

lO 


books upon the practice of medicine. It at- 
tempts, as the preface states, to treat the subject 
from the pathologic and therapeutic stand-point. 
The articles are signally brief, yet they go right ; J 
to the centre of the topics and leave off the . _ 
superfluous in a marked manner. ^ j 

“No space is wasted by the pernicious habit 
of ‘padding,’ so characteristic of the practices 
of many authors. The articles treating oT ner- 
vous affections are specially good .” — Medical ^ 
Journal (Charlotte, N. C. ). 




J. B. Lippincott Company’s Spring Announcements. 

How to Live Longer 

lAND Why wk do not Live: Longer. By J. R. Hayes, M.D., Medical Examiner 
Bureau of Pensions, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. i2mo. 
Cloth, $1.00. 

It is the aim of the author to point out many of the errors of living that tend to 
■^ring on disease in the human system and shorten human life. The object is to 
instruct against the incurrence of diseases rather than prescribe remedies for their 
treatment. As far as practicable, the use of all technical terms are omitted, the object 
m view being to give instruction to all classes upon subjects of vital interest to all. 

A Romance of Old New York. 

By Edgar Fawcett. Small i2mo. Yellow cloth, ornamental, with polished yellow 
edges, $1.00. 

“ Stories in which the names of personages 
:i irho have made history, appear as leading char- 
iJtcters, are always popular, and find delighted 
readers among every class. The writer of this 
i excellent tale, Edgar Fawcett, has already by 
1 skilful use of a versatile pen, gained thousands 
of eager listeners who will turn the pages of this 
|n:esent work with a great deal of pleasure. 

Clever, bright, spirited and even daring, this is 
’ en ingeniously written romance, and one that 
<5annot fail to still more firmly establish the 
author’s reputation as a brilliant entertainer. 

Be knows so well the time and the people of 
which he writes, that he happily transports us 


thither till we fairly lose ourselves in the in- 
creasing interest of the plot. The leading 
figure in the story is that of Aaron Burr, and 
we may say without fear of contradiction that 
no better picture of that statesman was ever 
drawm by any pen. The brilliant capacities of 
the man, his downfall, his large-heartedness and 
his thousand eccentricities, are here portrayed 
quite true to the life, and about them all is 
woven the pretty, though at times thrilling, 
romance that so many will delight to read, 
because therein are disclosed so much that is 
characteristic of the generosity and faithfulness 
of the great man .” — Boston Courier. 


j A Marital Liability. 

py Elizabeth Phipps Train, author of ^‘A Social Highwayman,” “The Auto- 
I biography of a Professional Beauty,” etc. Issued in the Lotos Library. Illus- 
j trated. i6mo. Polished buckram, 75 cents. 

i The authoress who wrote “A Social Highwayman” has a field in fiction all to 
' lierself. Her stories have the qualities of melodramas quietly but strikingly told, 
hpd her plots are ingenious as they are novel. 

The Coming of Chloe. 

By “The Duchess,” author of “A Point of Conscience,” “A Lonely Maid,” etc. 
i2mo. Cloth, $1.25. 

The recent death of the inimitable “ Duchess” adds a pathetic interest to the 
publication of her latest books. Amid the radiance of her bright social graces, the 
|shadow of the Great Leveller appears with unusual grimness, and all her hosts of 
friends on both sides of the sea will lament the loss of a perennially charming 
Iriend who smoothed away vexations in some of the gayest-hearted books ever 
jwritten. “The Coming of Chloe” was the last book issued before the taking off 
I of its authoress, and it must therefore have had her final touches. It is a brilliant 
example of her art, as it deals with her own Irish soil, which she knew and loved well. 


J. B. Lippincott Company’s Spring Announcements. 

Lovice. 

By “The Duchess/' author of “A I^onely Maid/’ “Molly Darling,” “The 
Hoyden,” etc. i2ino. Cloth, $1.25. 

The “ Duchess” has left in this, her final volume, a posthumous gift which her 
throngs of friends will be duly thankful for. “ Lovice” is as light and cheerful, 
as brilliant and inventive, as the tales which gave Mrs. Hungerford her first fame. 
In any survey of her works it must be classed with the earliest successes, a fact 
which gives its finality a pathetic effect. 


His Native Wife. | By Reef and Palm. 

Two volumes. By Louis Be eke. Just issued in the Lotos Library, Illustrated. 
i6nio. Polished buckram. 75 cents per volume. 


‘ • The novelty and keen emotional simplicity 
of Mr. Becke’s subjects are by no means the 
only charm of his books. In his treatment of 
his themes, he show^s what may be called the 
rarest literary wisdom. He seems to be quite 
aware that he has a new article to offer to the 


reading public, and that this article is of no 
mean romantic value ; he accordingly wastes 
no breath upon talking it up, but, with the 
finest sense of dramatic effect, lets it stand on 
its own merits .” — Boston Evening Trariscript. 


When the Century was New. 

A Novel. By Charles Conrad Abbott, M.D. i2mo. Cloth, uncut, $1.00. 

The books by Dr. Charles C. Abbott which appeal most intensely to our hearts 
are those in which he sketches the familiar character of the Jersey neighborhoods he 
has made his own. In this charming novel we have the best of his character-draw- 
ing up to date, and the plot is exceptionally well planned. The tale deals with our 
forefathers, and is therefore in the vein which best pleases the reader of to-day. 


A Deep-Water Voyage. 

By Paul Eve Stevenson. i2mo. Crushed buckram, deckle edges, $1.25. 

In this charming account, by a member of the New York Yacht Club, of a sail 
from New York to Calcutta, is given all the romance and novelty, entertainment and 
spice of danger experienced in such a trip on blue water. 


The Ape, the Idiot, and Other People. 

Startling and Uncanny Tales by W. C. Morrow. i2mo. Ornamentally bound, 
deckle edges, $1.25. 

The sheer power, artistic reserve, and knowledge of human motives stored up in 
these startling stories would furnish forth a legion of the shallow tale-tellers who gain 
an ephemeral repute. The author seizes the essential of every episode which he nar- 
rates and burns them into his pages with an indelible pen. Time and place seem 
annihilated, and you are confronted solely by great human problems of emotion, 
passion, suffering, or insanity. All this is done with such literary propriet}^ and 
power, such grasp of detail and decisive selection, that the result is a series of tales 
which must inevitably take a high place in the letters of our day. 

12 


J. B. Lippincott Company’s Spring Announcements. 


j Glamour/^ 

ifl Romance. By Meta Orred, author of “ Ave,” “Berthold,” “Dream Alphabet,” 
;! etc. i2mo. Cloth, deckle edges, $1.25. 

“ Glamour’ ’ is much akin in aim and treatment to the romances of a generation 
^o, and combines so many excellent qualities of a more modern interest that it is 

R oped it may herald a new advent of the absorbing kind of fiction which mingled 
ie ideal and the real to the intensification of both. 

j I 

Into an Unknown World. 


yiy John Strange Winter, author of “Aunt Johnnie,” “The Truth-Tellers,” “A 
I Magnificent Young Man,” etc. In LippmcotV s Series of Select Novels for April, 
1897. i2mo. Paper, 50 cents ; cloth, $1.00. 


j “ Mrs. Stannard’s choice of characters is out 
bf the common, and her tact is exquisite as she 
brings them together, groups them, and dis- 
^rses them with their various destinies.” — 
Boston Courier. 


“John Strange Winter is always original, 
bright, and interesting in her novels, and these 
three virtues are notably blended in her latest 
book.” — Boston Home Journal. 


I Wilt Thou have this Woman? 

[By J. Maclaren Cobban, author of “The King of Andaman,” “A Reverend Gen- 
I tleman,” “The Red Sultan,” “ Master of His Fate.” In LippincoW s Series for 
March, 1897. i2mo. Paper, 50 cents ; cloth, $1.00. 

[ The author of four able and interesting novels is nearly certain to succeed with 
his fifth, and Mr. J. Maclaren Cobban has really surpassed himself in the latest story 
cf so alluring a title. It is made up of love and intrigue in high English society, 
tend will delight those readers who like a book whose plot cannot be guessed in the 
Itet chapter. 


A Bachelor's Bridal. 


JSy Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron, author of “In a Grass Country,’’ “Vera Nevill,” 

; “A Daughter’s Heart,” etc. In LippincoW s Series of Select Novels for February, 

I 1897. i2mo. Paper, 50 cents ; cloth, $1.00. 

“A wide circle of admirers always welcomes lously well the daily social life of the English 
^,new work by this favorite author. Her style people.” — St. Louis Republic. 

i I pure and interesting, and she depicts marvel- 


I 

1 ' 


The Fault of One. 

Effie Adelaide Rowlands, author of “ A P'aithful Traitor,” “ My Pretty Jane !” 
“The Spell of Ursula,” etc. In LippincoW s Series of Select Novels for January, 
1897. i2mo. Paper, 50 cents ; cloth, $1.00. 


My Pretty Jane !’ made a distinct hit. 
iquently, other productions from the same 
Source are accorded a critical, yet kindly inter- 


est. The writer invests the simple things of 
life with a charm which admits her at once to 
the reader’s friendship. ’ ’ — Afinneapolis Tribune. 

13 


J. B. Lippincott Company’s Spring Announcements. IJ 

The Master-Beggars. 

By L. Cope Cornford, author of “ Captain Jacobus.” 121110. IllUvStrated. Cloth,. $1. 50* ' 
Without in any sense imitating the great Wizard of the North, Mr. Cornford 
has produced a rattling story of adventure quite comparable to ” Quentin Durward,” 
even in style and character, but naturally not its equal as an organic work of art. • 
We have all read ” Quentin Durward,” and this were a world barren of delight if we 
did not sometimes come upon a lesser but kindred tale to fill its place. “The Master- 
Beggars” does this with singular aptness. It has a fine blustering and audacious ^ 
dialogue, a tender vein of manly love-making, and the clash of steel, nor is thej 
wandering monk or the cloistral episode omitted which Scott knew so well how to^ 
draw with enduring words. k 


BOOKS IN PRESS. 


A Manual of Legal Medicine. 

For the Use of Practitioners and Students of Medicine and Law. By Justin Herold, 
A.M., M.D. 

The object of a great majority of medico-legal students, even of those who pursue 
a collegiate course, is not so much to familiarize themselves with minute details of 
facts or theoretical discussion, as to understand the great principles of the science and 
the leading facts which serve for its foundation. To facilitate in the accomplishment 
of this purpose is the object of the present work. 


The Origin of Disease. 

By Arthur V. Meigs, M.D. 

Dr. Luttrell^s First Patient. 

A new copyright Story. By Rosa Nouchette Carey, author of “The Mistress of 
Brae Farm,” “ The Old, Old Story,” etc. 

Mrs. Crichton's Creditor. 

By Mrs. Alexander, author of “The Wooing O’t,” “A Fight with Fate,” “A 
Golden Autumn,” etc. To be issued in the Lotos Library. Illustrated. i6mo. 
Polished buckram, 75 cents. 

The Roller Bandage and Surgical Dressing. 

By William Barton Hopkins, M.D., Visiting Surgeon to the Pennsylvania Hos- 
pital. New, Fourth Edition, with numerous illustrations. 

The plan which has been adopted in this book is to teach by numerous illustra- 
tions, rather than by elaborate description, the method of applying the roller bandage. 

Mammalian Anatomy 

AS A Preparation for Human and Comparative Anatomy. By Horace Jayne, 
M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Wistar In.stitute of Anatomy and Biology; Pro- 
fessor of Zoology in the University of Pennsylvania. Volume I. : Mammalian 
Osteology, illustrated by the Skeleton of the Cat. 

14 


LIPPJKCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


\^ebjster^s International 

Dictionary 


The One Great Standard Authority, 

So writes Hon. D. J. Brewer, 

Justice U. S. Supreme Court. 


IT IS A THOROUGH REVISION OF THE UNABRIDGED, 

The purpose of which has been not display nor the provision of material for boastful and showy 
advertisement, but the due, judicious, scholarly, thorough perfecting of a work which in all the 
stages of its growth has obtained in an equal degree the favor and confidence of scholars and of the 
general pubhc. 

IT IS THE BEST FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSES, BECAUSE 

Words are easily found * * * Pronunciation is easily ascertained, 

Meanings are easily learned * * * The growth of words easily traced, 
and because excellence of quality rather than superfluity of quantity characterizes 
its every department. * * * GET THE BE5T. 


Pamphlet free. 


O. &C. fUerriam Co., PuDlisliers, Sprinsrfield, Mass., IJ.S.A. 



Recognized T^ade Raperofthe Ij-iterary (^raft. 





MipnaHonfll 









an Tlllu0tratc5 
flUontblfi 

magazine 


Bright 

Crisp 

Manhsome 

Xlen Cents a Copp 
©ne iDollar a l^ear 

Scn& 7c in Stampe 
for Sample Cops . . 


Ifimon 0|ttoin Company 


358 laearborti Btreot, iSlfilcoso, 




When arranging your next 

TOUR TO EUROPE 

either independent travel or with escorted party 

REMEMBER 

that the best advantages aud most reliable information are 
obtained from 

THOS. COOK & SON, 

361 and 1335 Broadway, New York. 

828 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, 333 Washington St.. Boston. 


U OR have in stock or can '| 
Iy A Iy I furnish on short notice books, 
magazine articles, and infor- 
mation on any subject desired. 

“ Out-of-print” 1 1| 11 books a specialty. 
Literary Light w Jm|/ $i a year ; sample 
copy IOC. Raymer’s n A ^ 

Old Book Store, 245 4th Kl 11 1 If ^ 
Av, S., Minneapolis, Minn. J/ 

15 



LIPPINCOTT'8 MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



Under 


❖ PROFIT=SHARINQ POLICIES f 


Premiums payable Weekly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, Yearly. 


Assets, ❖ 

$19,54l,«27 g 

Income, ^ 

$14,158,445 I 

Surplus, ^ 

S4, 034,118 f 


Insurance 


Qaims Paid^ 


over 


FIVE YEARS’ STEADY SWEtP ONWARD 


Increase in 
5 Years. 

$J2,652,J53 

2,585,059 


Dec. 31—1891. Dec. 31—1896. 

$6,889,674 $19,541,827 

1,449,057 4,034,06 

6,703,631 14,158,445 

force ..... 157,560,342 320,453,483 

ings 290,348 825,801 

$1,260 of Assets for Every $1,000 of Liabilities 


THE PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA 

JOHN F. DRYDEN, President. 


Home Office: Newark, N* J- ^ 


LIPPINCOTT^S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 





International Reputation, 


The only Dentifrice of 


USED ALL OVER THE WORLD. 

A Sample of Sozodont and Sozoderma Soap for the Postage— 

New York. HALL & RUCKEL, Proprietors. London 


MRS. T. LYNCH, 


1 and 3 UNION SQ., cor. 14th St., N. Y., Dep’t G. 

(Established 1844.) 

DIAMOND IMPORTER AND MANUFACTURER* 


We import Diamonds m the rougfh and save 25 per 
cent. duty. Write for Illustrated Catalogfue. Mailed 
free ; filled with Bargfains. 

GOODS SENT FOR INSPECTION. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED, 

OR MONEY REFUNDED. 


No. I. Genuine Dia- 
monds and Ruby, 
Turquoise or Opal 
Centre. $$. 

No. 2. Five Opals. $5. 

No. 3. Pure White 
Diamonds, and any 
Stone Centre. $5. 

No. 4. Five Rubies, 
Sapphire, Emerald 
or Turquoise Cen- 
tre, and eight Dia- 
monds. $10. 










No. 5. Cluster of Fine White 
Diamonds. ^15. 


No. 8. Diamond Links. 
Same in Cuff Buttons. 


No. 6. Star. Perfectly White 
Diamonds. ^40. 


No. 9. All Diamonds, 1^15. 
No. 7. Silver, Diamonds, Ruby Centre, $12. 

75 cts. Diamonds, Turquoise Centre, 
Gold, ^1.50. «io. 


No. 10. Sterling Silver, ; 

14-karat Gold, $10. 
Enamelled any Color, $7.50. 
We warrant these Watches 
Correct Timekeepers, 
and repair them free of 
charge five years. 


LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


I THE LONG TRAIL OF THE 
% 




Crimson Rim. 

From ocean to ocean the trail is 
strewn with the bleaching wrecks 
of abandoned mounts, but no crim- 
son frames are seen among these 
sad monuments of beheaded and 
discouraged followers. 

Crimson Rim Quality 

is the best preventive for 
mishap and disappointment. 


SYRACUSE Bicycles spin to win. & 

Keep your eye on the Crimson Rim I 

MAKERS: 

SYRACUSE CYCLE COMPANY, | 

SYRACUSE, N. Y. 

NEW YORK CITY AGENTS: 

THE H. H. KIFFE COMPANY, 523 Broadway, New York. 



19 





net cin der rw u/remg^" 


llieX\ 


LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


20 







LIPPIjS COTTAS MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



Physician’s 
Ideai Saddie 




SUCH 
IS. . . 
THE . 


'‘A perfect saddle for either man or 
woman is one that will maintain the 
body in an easy and proper position. 
It must be a surface large enough to 
receive the tuberosities so that the 
weight comes on the gluteal muscles. 
It should have, like an army saddle, 
a hole in the centre, to relieve any injurious pressure ; this 
will prevent urethritis, prostatic abscess, and cistitis. This 
saddle should allow pedalling without needless friction. 
The rider should have a firm yet elastic seat.” 

CHRISTY ANATOMICAL SADDLE 




Shows pelvis as it rests on ordinary saddle. 


Shows pelvis as it rests on Christy Saddle. 


Here are a few of the many manufacturers that appreciate the true merit of the Christy Anatomical 
Saddle, and catalogue and furnish it as a regular equipment without additional charge. 


POPE MFG. CO., Hartford, Conn. 

STERLING CYCLE WORKS, Chicago. 

E. C. STEARNS & CO., Syracuse, N. Y. 

SYRACUSE CYCLE CO , Syracuse, N. Y. 

DAVIS SEWING MACHINE CO., Dayton, O. 

GEO. N. PIERCE & CO., Buffalo, N. Y. 

IDE MFG. CO., Peoria, 111. 

MONARCH CYCLE CO., Chicago. 

NATIONAL SEWING MACHINE CO., Belvidere, 111. 
COLLMER BROS., South Bend, Ind, 
HAMILTON-KENWOOD MFG. CO., Grands Rapids, 
PEERLESS MFG. CO., Cleveland, O. [Mich. 

THOMAS MFG. CO., Springfield, O. 

THE BLACK MFG. CO, 


ARIEL CYCLE CO., Goshen, Ind. 

ACME CYCLE CO., Elkhart. Ind. 

ANDERSON CYCLE & MFG. CO., Detroit, Mich. 
COLUMBUS BICYCLE CO., Columbus, O. 

VANGUARD CYCLE CO., Indianapolis, Ind. 

A. G. SPALDING & BROS., Chicopee Falls, Mass. 
ECLIPSE BICYCLE CO., Elmira, N. Y., and Washington, 
UNION MFG. CO., Cleveland, O. [D.C. 

MIAMI CYCLE CO., Middletown, O. 

WINTON BICYCLE CO.. Cleveland, O. 

THE E. HOWARD WATCH AND CLOCK CO. 
SPEIRS MFG. CO., Worcester, Mass. 

HENDRICK CYCLE CO. 

, Waltham, Mass., Erie, Pa. 


Riders 

When ordering your 1897 Bicycle, insist & a^Zot^^erthat 


Agents 

Bicycles fitted with Christy Saddles 
are good sellers — because riders are now 
educated on the saddle question. Insist, 
when placing your order, that your '97 
wheels come fitted with Christy Saddles. 
Booklet, “Bicycle Saddles from a Physician’s Standpoint,’* Sent Free. 

SPALDING & BROS., = = 


r injxruTJTTiJiJiJTrui^ 

Manufacturers and dealers 
- - '• - _i it^re notified that the Chrinty 

that it be fitted with the CHRISTY, and 5 Snd*ilr is fully protected by me- 
no dealer will lose a sale on account of design patents and 

your preference. 2 m/ringer, will be prosecuted. 

□xnjLnjTjmnjTJTJinjuTJTJ 


CHICAGO. 
NEW YORK. 


PHILADELPHIA. 

WASHINGTON. 




LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


►oao* 


•ooo* 





I Designed by Munger. Built by 
I skilled workmen under his super- 
I vision. It's the bicycle you have 
I been waiting and longing for. 

ft For Men and 'Women, Tandems^ 

g too. Also Bicycles for Youths and 

A Misses, Boys and Girls, The Wor- 

« cester Catalogues tell of all. Free, 

WORCESTER CYCLE MFG, CO, 

17 Murray St,, New York, 

Factories: — Middletown, Conn., and Worcester, Mass. 






O 


o 

e 



o 


/ 


22 





To repair permanently any kind of hole, 
big or little, in the 

DUNUIP 

Detachabie 

tlRES 

Dunlop Tires are DURABL.E. The fabric is 
not vulcanized with the rubber, and retains the 
strength usually lost in this process, making the 
tire hard to puncture and exceptionally resilient. 
The Free Catalogue tells other interesting things 
about them. Address 

AMERICAN DUNLOP TIRE CO. 

504 W. 14th St., New York City 

CHICAGO Branches: TORONTO 





JAPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


Veeder Cyclometer 


It tells 
the story 


>tir; 




ALWAYS 


Reliable, 

I Accurate, 


I 

Whether you ride one 
mile or ten thousand. 

Each cyclometer being tested at the 
rate of seven miles a minute before 
it leaves the factory. Weight, i oz. 

Price, $1.50. 

Demand a ‘‘VEEDER*’ with your wheel. 

BOOKLET FREE. 

VEEDER MT'G C0„ Hartford, Conn. 



NARROW TREAD 


The only Mechanically 
GorrectWheel on Earth 



The Racycle crank 
hanger has from 20 
per cent to 30 per 
cent less pressure 
on the bearings than the 
crank hanger of an y other 
bicycle on the market. 


will be paid to the first 
person who can demon- 
strate that the above as- 
sertion is not a fact. No 
cycle considered without 
the consent of the maker. 
All infringements barred 
Address all communica- 
tions to RACYCLE, 

, MIDDLETOWN, O* 

OUR 

Crank Hanger 
Does It I 

Special Racycle N. T’s 
Special Racycle Tandems 150 
Racycle N. T’s ... 75 

Our Bicycles 60 

AGENTS WANTED 

WRITE FOR TERMS. 

CHICAGO 393 Wabash Are. 

NEW YORK. 108 Fulton.St 
WASHINGTON. D. 0. 

Miami Cycle & M’rg Co., Middletown, 0 



'i 



I Insist on a Genuine 
^ Hunt with your new 
f wheel 


Hygienic Saddles 
Excel in Ease 


The base, composed of inde- 
pendent strands of unspliced 
special leather, gives exquisite 
elasticity, such as no woven 
support can afford; and this 
saddle does not become one- 
sided or ridged at the centre. 
The felt does not tear or 

grow lumpy . . 

These saddles are made in 
eight styles for 1897, so that 
everyone can be exactly fitted. 
They are suitable for use on 
any bicycle for men, women, 
and children 

Send for Catalog I. 


^ Hunt Manufacturing Co., ^ 

$ Westboro, Mass. $ 

V ¥ 

&!¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥&; 


23 



LIPFINCOTT^S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



Wf DAYTON. 


THIS 


was used constantly 
all last season in 
the Berkshire Hills, 
without one cent for 
repairs. 


DAYTON RIDERS enjoy life. The perfection of their mount 

■' ■ = perfects their pleasure. Singles, Tandems, 

Triplets, Quads, illustrated in the free catalogue. 

Address ♦♦♦. DAVIS SEWING MACHINE Dayton, O*, and 64 Wabash Avc., Chicago. 

DAYTON BICYCLE CO., 76 Readc Street, New York. 

THE CONGDON & CARPENTER CO., 159 Tremont St., Boston, and Providence, R. I. 



R0U6niN6IT 

15 A PLEASURE • 
IF YOU RIDE A-:** 


STROMO. 
DURABLEV.AMD 
EASY RUMNIMG. 
H A LOZIER £* CO.- 



fYsunglochimar. | 

' Oh!youngloc/iinvar is 1 
V comeoutofitieWest i 

\£ T^&t mJhwu^hantbe wide border, 
steed ms tbebesi7 \ 


THE 

MODERN 
LOCHINVAR 
RIDES « 
AN \ 


ImriK^GHTLY RIND] 


AMES & FROST ©on^any , Chicai 

. .uJS 


24 




LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



Price, $4, 


©ycle Lamp 


Gives far more 
light than any 
other. Stays lit. 
Has head and 
fork bracket, 
finely ground 
lens and rever- 
sible oil tank. 
Nickeled Brass, 
riveted through- 
out. Catalogue free. 


has a forced draught ? 
made by the burner and j 
the double body, which J 
also keeps it cold. | 

In form, quality and con- ? 
struction we challenge S 
comparison — assured of J 
a visible superiority. S 

? SURPLESS, DUNN & CO., Sole Agts., 15 IVIurray St., N.Y. 5 

J Made by the HITCHCOCK Lamp Co., Watertown, N.Y. ? 

1^ 


Do You Want a ^ 
Perfect Bicycle? ^ 

THE 

“Duquesne Special.” 

Catalogue tells all about it. Free by Mail. 

Duquesne Manufacturing Co., 

PITTSBURG, PA. 

Makers of Distinctively High-Grade Bicycles. 


IONITORaX'MOGUL 


MARINE CAS ENGINES. 


1 — r 


Launches. 


NO INSPECTION. BOILER.riRE. HEAT. SMOKE OR ODOR. 

VAPOR ENGINE AND POWER COMPANY 
IVIUIMI I Ur\ GRAND RAPIDS. MICH. SEND FOR CATALOGUE. 


PUYS 


ipeakers for School, 
Club and Tarlor. Catalogue free. 

T. S. DENISON, Publkber, Chicago, 111. 



RIDERS 

jiwwp 

fWfORD 
TIRES. 


HARTFORD RUBBER 
WORKS CO. HARTFORD 
conn. BRANCHES 
NEWYORK.CHICA(iO, 
BOSTON, PHILADELPHU, 
MINNEAPOLISTOROiflO. 



97 


Mesinger Saddle 



THE PERFECTION OF WORKMANSHIP AND 
HYGIENIC QUALITIES. 



It’s the rattan base and 
of it that makes the VHM saddle so elastic aiic 

comfortable. The jflMiii cross-weaving pre 

vents spreading side- ways between the legs 

The V-shaped aperture relieves all injurious pressure. By a 
turn of the set-screw the seat can be made as hard or soft 
as desired. Five sizes and three colors. 


Wide m the 
Back* 


Narrow in 
Front* 


X 


PRICE, $ 3 . 50 . 

HULBERT BROS* & CO 

31 and 33 "West 23d Street^ 
NEW YORK. 


■y/ 


\ 


/ 


J 


'■ t 




25 


IV 


LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER, 





a. 

Q. 

< 

i 

Q. 


ijf; 




The compact League- 
kit contains solid and 
plastic plugs, tire 
tape, cutter, and hol- 
low needle. Price, 
50 cts. , free with each 
pair of League Tires. 


Specify Insist upon having 

League Tires 

ON YOUR '97 WHEEL ^ ^ 

Send for “A Tip on Tires^’ free. 

They ^Get There 
And Get Back" 


NEW YORK BELTING ^PACKING CO.LTD 


25 Park Place, New York. 

Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, 
San Francisco. 

Agencies at Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Toledo. 





are onl-j 
a few o 
s the man-j 

good points ir 
the White Whee 


joeauty 

A STYLES, A & B, ^100 — C ^ D, ^75 \ 

8 Send for Catalog. 

y "White Sewing Machine Co* New York. 

^ Bicycle Dept. Cleveland, Ohio* 


Everybody Koowj 



Tribaoe Bicycles. 



SUCH IS FAflE 

That Millions ^ 

Now Use 

For Bicycles, Guns, Typewriters, Etc. 
Cleans. Lubricates. Prevents Rust. 

Ask your dealer for it. Sample bottle free. 
Send 2c. stamp for postage. 


G. W. COLE & CO., (room n) 111 B’WAY, N. Y. 



600 SECOND HAND BICYCLES 

All makes. to S15. New High 
Grade ’96 models, fully guaranteed, 
SI 7 to S35. Special Clearing Sale. 
Shipped anywhere on approval. 

Earn a Bicycle by helping 
advertise us. Easy work, sure reward. 
Write at once for our Special Offer, 
D. P. MEAD & PRENTISS, Chicago. 


Write for new *97 Catalogue. 



No Fire, Smoke, or Heat. Absolutely Safe. Send 5 stamps 

for cat- 
logue. 

$250 
and 
up 


TRUSCOTT BOAT MFG. CO., Drawer G, St. Joseph, Michigan 


H ypnotism. Treatments and lessons through corre- 
spondence. Interesting circulars free. Address Prof. 
Anderson, L. P., 47, Masonic Temple, Chicago. 


26 





LIPPINCOTT^S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER, 


<4 

fi 

ADE to fill the demand of the great mass of riders, who by sad 
experience have been taught that the tire is the most import- ^ 
Don’t take any tire offered you. Insist upon hav- i 


Practically Puncture-Proof 


ant part of their wheel 
ing CHASE TOUGH TREAD TIRES on your wheel. 

Safety, service and comfort insured at NO GREATER EXPENSE 


NEW YORK 
338 Broadway 

CHICAGO 
192 Van Buren St, 

PHILA. 

9x7 Arch St. 


Made by 


70 WASHINGTON ST,, BOSTON. 

Send US your address and name of this maga2ine and vfe wUi mail you, 
the popular sketch book ' Mr. Van Cycle's Experience," ill ^trated. 


WE HAVE NO AGENTS 


ft 



but have sold direct to the 
consumer for 24 years, at 
wholesale prices, saving 
them the dealers’ x)ro- 
fits. Ship anywhere 
for examination be- 
fore sale. Every- 
thing warranted. 

100 styles of Car- 
riages, 90 styles of Har- 
^ness. Top Buggies as low 
^^as $35. Phaetons as low 

as Spring Wagons, 

No.37}^. Surrey Harness— Price f 15,00. Road Wagons, etc. Send No. 606. Surrey— Price with curtains, lamps, sun- 
As good as sells for $22.00. for large, free Catalogue, shade, apron and fenders, $60. As good as sells for $90. 

ELKHART CARRIAGE AND HARNESS MFG. CO., W. B. PRATT, Sec’y, ELKHART, IND. 



Lot of beautiful Angora Kittens 
in exquisite colors, charming dis- 
positions, and very stylish. Send 
10 cents for pictures illustrating. 

WALNUT RIDGE FARMS, 

Box 2144, Boston, Mass. 



> XT YPNOTISM. Treatments and lessons by mail. Advice 
A- free. Prof. Anderson, L.P., 37, Masonic Temple, Chicago. 


SISiDcIViiClIiOHBWMWATtR 


WHY 

we sell 

Superior 
Phsetons 

at much 
lower prices 

than any other firm in the world is explained in 
our Art Catalogue. Send for it I 

The above cut illustrates one of our popularstyles. A low 
priced Phaeton, with beauty, grace and strength. Can be 
fitted (if desired) with ball-bearing axles and rubber tires. 

Columbus PhddtOtl Co., Columbus, O. 


.27 




LIPPIJSCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



Manufactory Established 1761. 


LEAD PENCILS, COLORED PENCILS, SLATE PENCILS, WRITING SLATES, 
STEEL PENS, GOLD PENS, INKS, PENCIL CASES IN SILVER AND 
IN GOLD. STATIONERS’ RUBBER GOODS, RULERS, 

COLORS AND ARTISTS’ MATERIALS. 

78 Reade Street, - - New York, N. Y. 

MANITPACXORV ES'TABLrlSHHD 1761. 

GOODS SOLD BY ALL STATIONERS. 




DO aOOD PRINTING 

with ease and at small expense 
... by using the best Inks. . . . 

THEY ARE MADE BY 

The AULT & WIBORG COMPANY, 

the largest manufacturers of Fine Printing and 
Lithographic Inks, Dry Colors and Varnishes 
in America. 




They are used by the Leading Printers and Lithographers throughout the Union* 
Specimen Books and Prices on application* 


Or, 


Ault & Wiborg, 

68 Beekman St., New York* 

G. S. BROWNELL, Resident Partner. 


♦ The Ault & Wiborg Company, 
rik Cincinnati, Ohio, and Chicago, III* 


The Complete Novel in May LiPPINCOTT'S 

WILL BE 

JASON HILDRETH’S IDENTITY. 

By VIRr^A WOODS. 

28 




LlVPINCOTl’'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 




Cbe Kenwood ^ 

Steamer Rug 




is indispensable to the 
ocean traveller. It 
is light, warm, attrac- 
tive, and a complete, 
thorough protection 
against cold breezes 
and moisture. The 
sale was more than 
quadrupled last year, 
and is increasing very 
rapidly. It is a per- 
fect hold-all, excellent 
for extra bed cover- 
ing; whilefordriving, 
camping, and invalids 
it is the acme of com- 
fort. Many well- 
known and experi- 
enced travellers have 
courteously written us of their appreciation— that 
the Kenwood Eugs are far superior to all others, 
and mentioning many good points that will interest 
you. Pamphlet free. 

FREE samples of material, and illustrated circular 
of our new and improved Camping: Bags, Baby 
Bags, and Qolf, Travelling and Steamer Capes. 



The KENWOOD MILLS, Albany, N. Y. 



For forty cents we send you an 18- 
inch centre-piece stamped in the 
popular clover design. Also 6-inch 
violet design, 9-inch chrysanthemum 
design, our catalogue of stamped 
linens, and a book on embroidering 
these flowers, free. All for 

— 40 Cents. — 

P. B. WORTHINGTON, 

Canal 8t., New York. 






Cameras 


ALL STYLES-LOWEST PRICES 
EVERYTHING PHOTOGRAPHIC 

At out* ~!\j :ejv store 

Nos. 60 and 62 East 11 ih Street, 

(Five doors from Broadway.) 

The Scovill Adams Co. of Neiv- York. 

W. I. LINCOLN ADAMS, President. 

Send 35c. for a Sample Number of the Photofjraphic Times, 
containing about loo handsome photographic illustrations. 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

I 

1 

I 

1 

1 

1 

nl 








is a complete undergar- 
ment, covering the entire 
body like an additional 
skin. Perfectly elastic, 
fitting like a glove, but 
softly and without pres- 
sure. No buttons down 
the front. Made for men, 
women, and young peo- 
ple. Most convenient to 
put on or off, being en- 
tered at top and drawn 
like trousers. 

With no other kind of 
underwear can ladies ob- 
tain such perfect fit for 
dresses, or wear comfort- 
ably so small a corset. 


Send for Illustrated Booklet. 


ONEITA KNITTING MILLS, 

J Office : 

^ No* \ Greene St*t New York* 


qimnjxmxriJTJTJinrLnriJTJTJiJiJiJT^^ 

hhe “KAHLER” sh«el 

This celebrated COMFORT Shoe 
can be obtained ONLY at our Store^ 

Nos. 928 & 930 BROADWAY N. Y. ^ 


Q* 

00 
>— I 
Vi 
4 -* 

a 

O 



a 

Oh 

u 

o 

>1^ 

00 


The Trade-Mark— of Dr. Kahler— is stamped on sole 
of each “ Kahler” Shoe. 

^ NONE OTHERS GENUINE. 

FR:E^B: An illustrated, 50-page linen-hound 
volume on the ** Dress and Care of the 
Feet,'* by Dr. P. Kahler, with direc- 
tions how to obtain an accurate fit. 
Send 2 -cent Stamp for mailing. 

DR. P. KAHLER & SONS, 

S Estaiiished 1868 . SurgeoH Chiropodists. c 

mJUUTJTJTJTJlJTXUTJXnXLnJTJTJTJUJ^^ 

29 



The Cat Came Back. 


LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER, 



30 




LippiMcoTT's Magazine advertiser. 



It supplies oxygfen to the blood* It is condensed vigor that can be imparted to 
the patient by self-treatment* It cures disease and pain under Nature^s own laws* 
It is applied as in illustration* Large book of information and latest price-list 
mailed free* 

Original Improved Oxy donor, Complete, - $15.00 
Oxydonor No. 2, Latest Improved, - - - 25.00 

“ ASHi^WAY, R. I. 

“ Dr. H. Sanche: Dear Sir,— I have used Oxydonor Victory for several years past, and with the most beneficial 
results. I recommend its use to all brain workers especially. You may use the above statement in any manner 
you desire. Your truly, Rev. Chas. J. Budlong.” 


DR. H. SANCHE, Discover and Inventor, 

261 Fifth Avenue, New York City. 6i Fifth Street, cor. Fort, Detroit, Mich 


H. 


(Notice this to-day. This ad. may not appear again.) 

$100 GIVEN 

IN 

GOLD AWAY 

Who can form the greatest number of words from the 
letters in RELIABILITY ? You can make twenty or more 
words, we feel sure, and if you do you will receive a good 
reward. Do not use any letter more times than it appears in 
the word. Use no language except English. Words spelled 
alike, but with difterent meaning, can be used but once. Use 
any dictionary. Pronouns, nouns, verbs, adverbs, prefixes, 
suffixes, adjectives, proper nouns allowed. Anything that 
is a legitimate word will be allowed. Work it out in this 
manner : Rat, let, lye, lie, liable, bit, bite, bet, bat, etc. Use 
these words in your list. The publishers of Woman’s World 
AND Jenness Miller Monthly will pay ^20.00 in gold to the 
person able to make the largest list of words from the letters 
m the word RELIABILITY ; $10.00 for the second ; $5.00 for 
the third; $5.00 for the fourth; and $2.00 each for the thirty 
next largest lists. The above rewards are given free and 
without consideration for the purpose of attracting atten- 
tion to our handsome woman’s magazine, thirty-six pages, 
one hundred and forty- four long columns, finely illustrated, 
and all original matter, long and short stories by the best 
authors ; price, $1.00 per year. To enter the contest, it is 
necessary for you to send 25 cents in stamps or silver for a 
three months’ trial subscription with your list of words, and 
every person sending the 25 cents and a list of twenty words 
or more is guaranteed an extra present by return mail (in 
addition to the magazine), of a 188-page book, “Treasure 
Island,” by Robert Louis Stevenson, a fascinating story of 
love and thrilling adventure. Satisfaction guaranteed in 
every case or money refunded. Lists should be sent at 
once, and not later than May 15. The names and addresses 
of successful contestants will be printed in June issue, pub- 
lished in May. Our publication has been established ten 
years. We refer you to any mercantile agency for our stand- 
ing. Make your list now. Address WOMAN’S WORLD 
PUBLISHING CO., 225-6-7 Temple Court Building, New 
York City. 


Are 10,000 Men 
Mistaken ? 

Unless about 10,000 men, mainly professional men 
—lawyers, doctors, editors, preachers, and all other 
classes, including the writer, are very much mistaken, 
the Electropoise effects cures and gives relief where 
all other known remedies have failed. Especially is it 
efficacious in the case of feeble women and children. 

I have used one for the past two years, and find it in- 
valuable as a curative agent.— Rev. Zephaniah Meek, 
D.D., Editor of Central Methodist, Catlettsburg, Ky. 



Price Ten Dollars 


VVRITE for illustrated descriptive booklet 
telling all about this new, self-applied 
Oxygen treatment that cures disease without 
medicine. Sufferers from 

l>yspepsia. Nervousness, Insomnia, 
Rheumatism and Neuralgia 

will be gratified to learn that, as others have 
been, they can be cured by so simple a remedy. 

Book, by mail, without charge if you write. 

ELECTROLIBRATION CO., 1122 Broadway, N.Y. 


31 




The Cat Came Back. — C ontinued. 


LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTISEP. 



32 




LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


The Marlborough 


Camera 



REVERSIBLE SWING BACK 
RISING AND SWING FRONT 

■5x7, fitted with Rapid Rectilinear Lens, B. & L. Shutter, and 
Two Double Holders, J§60, 

S X 10 without lens and shutter . • • • 50. illustrated 



Send for Free Pamphlet of $5 and $8 Cameras 

PntnlnmiQ kinds of Cameras and all requisites ri>Qn 

UulClIUnlJu photography, mailed on application. lICu 

Werecommend ni ||U|AV IlDV Dl ATCC They are quick 
toamateurs uLIIiIAA UllI iLA I LO and reliable. 

The International Annual, Vol. IX., 100 illustrations, 80 
practical articles on photography, now ready. 

Price, 75 cents ; postage, 15 cents. 

E. & H. T. ANTHONY & CO., 

591 Broadway, New York. 


REGINA MUSIC BOX 



PLAYS 
OVER looo 
TUNES 

OF YOUR OWN 
SELECTION. 

RUNS 

FROM 20 TO 
30 MINUTES 
WITH EACH 
WINDING. 


Renders the most beautiful music on a steel comb with a 
brilliance and richness of tone that has been a perfect reve- 
lation to all lovers of fine music. Plays all your favorite 
music, both classic and popular. Cannot get out of order 
like the delicate Swiss box, because of the simplicity and 
massiveness of its movement. Indestructible metal tune 
discs are used, and the box keeps the most accurate time. A 
wonderful entertainer, which never needs tuning, like a piano, 
and is always ready to play. Handsomely carved cases at 
same price as plain cases. Boxes from $14 to $ 70 . In more 
elaborate cases at higher prices, according to style of case. 

The Orchestral Regina. 

scope as a seven octave piano. A wonderful instrument. Can 
be arranged with money drop-attachment for Hotels and 
Public Places. Send for handsome illustrated catalogue. 

REGINA MUSIC BOX COMPANY, Rahway, N. J. 



the merits of 
the “Improved” 

Hartshorn 
Shade Rollers 


and you will find that they 
have every meritorious 
feature that can be put 
into a roller. 

There is no way to 
make them better. They make the shade 
go up easily and come down easily. 
They do what you want them to do. 

Ask your dealer to show you the 
Improved with holder, requiring no 
tacks and having end fittings that insure 
an exact centre, and see that Stewart 
Hartshorn autograph is on the label. 



WOOD ROLLERS. 


TIN ROLLERS. 


Finish Fioors 


with l^iquid Granite^ the 
best **Floor Finish*' made. Quick 
drying, tough and durable. Write for 
finished specimens of wood and inter/^ 
esting pamphlets telling all about it. 
They will be sent you free. 

In finishing*^ or refinishing your 
homes, remember, BERRY BROTHERS' 
ARCHITECTURAL FINISHES produce the 
finest finish attainable on wood. 

If interested drop us a line, it will pay you. 

BERRY BROTHERS, Limited, 

Varnish Manufacturers. 

NEW YORK, 252 Pearl St. BOSTON, 42 Pearl St. 
CHICAGO, 15 and 17 Lake St. CINCINNATI, 304 Main St. 
SAN FRANCISCO, ST. LOUIS, 

709 and 711 Front St. 704 N. Fourth St. 

PHILADELPHIA, BALTIMORE, 

26 and 28 N. Fourth St. 22 East Lombard St. 

Factory and n^aln office, Detroit, 


• 33 


The Cat Came Back— C ontinued. 


LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER, 




LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


$500 

IN 

GOLD 

GIVEN 

AWAY 


Are you a smart spell- 
er? We give $500 away 
In prizes to those able to 
make the largest list of 
words from the word 
FASCINATES. You can 
make at least twenty, 
•vye believe, and If you 
can you will get a pres- 
ent anyway, and If your 
list Is the largest you 
will get $100.00 In cash. 
Here are the rules to 
follow : Use only words 
In the English language. 
Do not use any letters 
In a word more times 
than It appears In FAS- 
CINATES. Words 
spelled alike can be used 
only once. Use any dic- 
tionary, and we allow 
to be counted proper 
nouns, pronouns, pre- 
fixes, suffixes, any legit- 
imate word. This Is the 
way: Fascinates, faces, 
face, ace, as, ate, eat, 
neat, sat, sit, etc. Use 
these words. The pub- 
lisher of The American 
Woman- will give away, 
on May 15, the sum of 
$500, divided into sixty 
prizes, for the larg- 
est lists of words as 
above. $100 to the person 
making the largest list ; 
$50 for the second larg- 

est; $25 each for the next 

three largest lists; $20 each for the three next largest; 
$15 to each of the next three; $10 to each of the next 
nine; and $2 to each of the next forty largest lists. We 
want you to know our paper, and It is for this reason 
we offer these premiums. We make no extra charge 
for the privilege of entering thli word- building con- 
test, but It is necessary to send us 25 cents, silver or 
stamps, for which we will send you our handsome il- 
lustrated 28-page magazine for six months, and the 
very day we receive your remittance we will mail you 
free the following ten popular novels, by well- 
known authors: “A Bird of Passage,” by Beatrice Har- 
raden: “The False Friend,” by Virginia F. Townsend; 
“What the Storm Brought,” by Kett Winwood ; “A 
Heart Unspotted,” by John Strange Winter; “Her 
Lost Kingdom,” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox; “ In Three 
Weeks,” by Walter Besant; “Where the Chain 
Galls,” by Florence Marryat ; “ A Bachelor’s Vow, * 
by George L. Aiken ; “The Fugitive Bride,” by Kelt 
WInwoodj “How Mabel Was Saved,” by Marietta 
Holley. This offer is the greatest you have ever had 
made to you. Send your list at once. If you win 
one of the prizes your name will be published in our 
June Issue. Address The American Woman, 119 ^d 
121 Nassau street. Dept. 66, New York City, N. Y. 


Send your name for a Souvenir 
of the Works of Eugene Field, 

FIELDoeFLOWERS 

Che Eugene Tield monument Souvenir 

The most beautiful Art Production of the cen- 
tury. “A small bunch of the most fragrant of blos- 
soms gathered from the broad acres of Eugene Field’s 
Farm of Love.” Contains a selection of the most 
beautiful of the poems of Eugene Field. Hand- 
somely illustrated by thirty-five of the world’s 
greatest artists as their contribution to the Mon- 
ument Fund. But for the noble contributions of the 
great artists this book could not have been manufac- 
tured for^7.oo. For sale at book stores, or sent 
prepaid on receipt of $i.io. The love offering to 
the Child’s Poet Laureate, published by the Com- 
mittee to create a fund to build the Monument 
and to care for the family of the beloved poet. 
Eugene Field Monument Souvenir Fund, 

i8o Monroe Street, Chicago, lU 


MAGIC 


ILANTERNS WANTED OREX^HANGE^ 

Ih AR BACH &C0.809FilbertSt Phila.Pa. 


EST GBT TOOL 


iddrMs Air Brush Mfg. Co. 

1025, Rockford, 111. 


INEXHAUSTIBLE 
WATER-POWER 
TO LET 

ON LONG LEASE ONLY. 

SUITABLE FOR 

SHIRT FACTORY, 

CLOTHING FACTORY, 

COLLAR AND CUFF FACTORY, 

OR ANY FACTORY EMPLOYING FEMALE 
OPERATIVES. 

NEW YORK FACTORY-WAGONS NOW DISTRIBUTE 
WORK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD REGULARLY. 

Power has been used more than loo years, 

AND IS NOW USED 

TO OPERATE SAW=MILL. 

PRICE OF LABOR— LOW. 

Boys, 50 cents per day; Men, $1.00; Man and Team, $2.50, 
For Ten Hours’ Work. 


BUILDING MATERIAL VERY CHEAP. 

Cedar Siding, from $12.00 per thousand feet. 

Cedar Shingles, from $3.50 to $7.50 per thousand. 

OTHER PRICES IN PROPORTION. 

GOOD SCHOOLS. CHURCHES. TAXES LOW. 

ADDRESS FOR PARTICULARS, 

EDMUND S. MORGAN, Jackson’s Mills, N. J. 


RUPTURE 


CURED at 
SMALL 
COST BY 



position from 
' hips, spine and 
bones tothenatural 
cushions of muscles 
, No straps~By the ball- 
bearing pad, we use Rup- 
ture’s own force to retain it- 
f. Full particulars in our 
book sent free in plain sealed en- 
velope. W rite for it now. 

CHAS. CLUTHE CO., 

213 WOODWARD AVt. DETROIT. MICH. 


BRAY HAIR RESTORED 

to its natural color by LEJE’S HAIR M£DI- 
CANT, no dye, harmless, pleasant odor, $1.00 a bottle 
I^EE MEIHCANT CO 108 Fulton st., N. Y.CpPr 
Illustrated Treatise on Hair on application I flkEi 


nnn nnn blo tting , pads (jiy^N my. 

f 11 11 . 11 IJ IJ Send 4 cents in stamps for some of them. 
• ww p www J JOHNSTON, NEWPORT, R. I. 


»l®Dtl5MCifioHI«il!jWWATER 


35 





The Cat Came Back.— C ontinued. 


LIPPINCOTT8 MAGAZINE ADVERTISEP. 



36 





LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISEM. 






THIS IS A BONA FIDE OFFER. READ CAREFULLY. IT WILL NOT APPEAR AGAIN. 

THBEE GRAND CONTESTS IN ONE. \ 

HERE ARE OUR PROPOSITIONS :— ^*500.00 in Oold to the persons who can form the greatest 
number of words from the letters in the word FASHION. $500.00 in Gold to the persons that can make the 
greatest number of words from the letters in the word FIXINGS. 8500.00 in Gold to the persons that can 
make the greatest number of words from the letters in the word MONTHIiY. You can enter one or all 

three contests. 

OFFER No. 1. 

IIVI ^^1 lYto the person forming the greatest number of words from the letters in the 
m \J\J I IN word FASHION^ as follows : $200.00 in Gold will be given to the person 

sending the largest list of words formed from the letters in the word FASHION ; $100.00 to the person sending the 
next largest list; $50.00 to the person sending the third largest list; $25 00 to the person sending the fourth largest 
list; $10.00 to each of the next five; $5.00 to each of the next ten, and $1.00 to each of the next twenty-five. Do not 
use any letter more times than it appears in the word FASHION, use no language except English. Words spelled 
alike but with different meaning can be used but once. Use any dictionary ; any word found therein will be allowed 
except as follows: no plurals, prefixes, suffixes, or abbreviations will be allowed. Work it out in this manner: as, 
ash, on, has, fan, etc. The above rewards are given free to attract attention to our handsome woman’s magazine, 

34 pages, 102 long columns, finely illustrated, containing the very lastest lashions, and all original matter, long and 
short stories by the best authors. Price, 50 cents per year. TO KNTER THE CONTEST No. 1 IT IS NEC- 
ESSARY FOR YOU TO SEND 25 TWO-CENT STAMPS OR MONEY ORDER for one year’s 
subscription with your list of words. Satisfactiou g-uaranteed in every case or your money refunded. 

OFFER No. 2. 

IIM rir^l to those forming the greatest number of words from the letters in the word 
m \J\J 11^ fixings, as follows : $100.00 each to the two persons sending the largest 

list of words from the letters in the word FIXINGS; $50.00 for each of the two sending the second largest lists ; 
$25.00 for each of the two sending the third largest lists; $10.00 each for the next five ; $5.00 each for the next ten, 
and $2.00 each for the next twenty-five largest lists. Same conditions prevail as in contest No. 1. TO ENTER 
CONTEST No. 2 IT IS NECESSARY TO SEND 25 TWO-CENT STAMPS FOR ONE 
YEAR’S SUBSCRIPTION TO ‘‘FASHION AND FIXINGS.” 


OFFER No. 3. 


nn IIM I to the persons sending the largest lists of words formed from the letters in 

I IN word MONTHI.Y, as follows : $50.00 each to the four persons sending 

the largest list of words formed from the letters in the word MONTH EY ; $25.00 each for the next four largest 
lists; $10.00 each for the next ten, and $2.00 each for the next fifty. Same conditions prevail as in offers Nos. 1 and 2. 
Remember, 25 two-cent stamps must accompany your list of words for offer No. 3 for one year’s subscription to 
FASHION AND FIXINGS. By sending 25 two-cent stamps for one year’s subscription to our magazine you can 
enter any one of these contests; by sending 40 two-cent stamps, for an eighteen months’ subscription, you can enter 
any two of these contests ; by sending 50 two-cent stamps, for a two years’ subscription, you can enter all three contests. 
If you enter all three contests you will be almost sure to receive one or more of the 158 
cash prizes. 

GRAND COMBINATION OFFER. 

Every person entering all three competitions, and sending 50 two-cent stamps, will receive by return mail a very 
handsome Gold Plated Combination Shirt Waist Set, consisting of 1 Collar Button, 3 Shirt Studs, 1 pair of Link Sleeve 
Buttons, and 1 Skirt Holder that will fit any belt. These Jewelry Sets are something entirely new, and are set with 
very handsome colored Parisian enamel. They are worth more than the price of the three subscriptions, and will be 
sure to please every one. 

The March number of FASHION AND FIXINGS contains the names and atldresses of 
the people who received cash prizes from our last contest. Send your li.sts at once, or not later 
than May 30th, at which time contest closes. The names of all successful contestants will be published in the July 
number of FASHION AND FIXINGS. We refer you to any mercantile agency as to our responsibility. Address 

Contestants residing in Foreign Countries must send double these amounts for extra postage. 

DUNCAN A KELLER, Department G, 156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y. 


BUNDNESS PREVENTED 

The Absorption Treatment a Success. Hundreds 
successfully treated for all diseases of the eyes or 
lids without knife or risk at their homes and at 
our Sanitarium, the largest and most successful in- 
stitutiou iu America. Don't wait to be blind.** 

Pamphlet Free Describing Treatment. 

The Bemis Eye Sanitarium, Glens Falls, N.Y. 


^feWCijftpgiEYEWArER 


Mme. CAROLINE, 

Face and Hair Specialist. 

The Ne Plus Ultra Face Beautifier will 
positively remove wrinkles, tan, freckles, 
blackheads, liver spots, and all facial 
blemishes. I also keep dainty creams, 
flesh foods, and beauty soap, to be used 
in combination with the lotion, aiding it 
greatly in attaining the desired results. 
The Royal Windsor French Hair Restorer is not a dye, but 
restores gray hairs to its original color. Send for free sealed 
circulars containing testimonials and price-list. 

p»rinrc • / ^23 Sixth Aveuue, New York, and 
’13*6 Clinton Avenue, Albany. 

37 



The Cat Came Back.— Continued. 


LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



38 




LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



\ 

i Health! 


Rest I 


Comfort ! 


tlhc 3ack5on Sanatorium, 

Dansville, Livingston County, N. Y. 

Established in 1858. Most beautiful and commodious Fire- 
Proof Building in the world, used as a Health Institution. 

I All forms of hydro-therapeutics, massage, rest cure; elec- 
tricity administered by skilled attendants. A staff of reg- 
ular physicians of large experience ; accommodations and 
service ‘of highest class. Superior cuisine, directed by 
Emma P. Ewing, teacher of cooking at Chautauqua. Do 
[ not fail to write for illustrated literature and terms, if seek- 
ing health or rest. 

J. Arthur Jackson, M.D., Secretary, 

Box 2002. 


. nri-i p? c d cnr o* ® q®®** 

j 1 rl 1 Complexion 

j LIES IN THE USE OF 

Dr. Campbell’s Safe Arsenic Complexion Wafers 
. anh Fouid’s Medicated Arsenic Complexion Soap 

The only real Beautifiers of the 
Complexion, Skin, anti Form. 

These Wafers and Soap are simply 
wonderful for removing Freckles, 

3Iotli, Blackheads, Pimples, Vulgar 
Redness, Rough, Yellow, or Muddy 
Skin, and all other facial disfigure- 
l ; ments. Wafers by mail, $1.00; six 
I boxes, S5.00. Soap by mail, 50 cents, 
j SOLD BY ALL DRUGGISTS. 

\ T Address all letters to 
j H. B. FOULD, 214 Sixth Avenue, New York, 

Beware of all other “so-called” Arsenic PREPARATIONS, 
i DR. CAMPBELL’S WAFERS are the only genuine arsenic 
£ wafers made. 

FOULD’S ARSENIC SOAP is the only MEDICATED 
ARSENIC COMPLEXION SOAP in the world. 

CORRESPONDENCE STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. 



! 1 





DEAFNESS 

and Head Noises relieved by using^y 
Wilson’s Common Sense Ear Drums. 

New scientific invention; different 
from all other devices. The on ly safe, 
simple, comfortable and invisible 
Ear Drum in the world. Helps where 
medical skill fails. No wire or string 
attachment. Write for pamphlet. 

WILSON EAR DRUM CO., 
MTTrnsfBldg., Louisville, Ky. 

1122 Broadway, [Room 163j New York. 


lBou$on’$ 



VIOLETTE 
DE LA REINE 

Is inconceivably delicate 
and lasting, yet not 
too expensive. 

HAVE YOU TRIED IT? 

GEO. BORGFELDT & CO., 

U. S. Importins: Agents, 

22-24 Washington Place^ New York City. 


m 1. 

m i 




TOILET 

POWDER 


Approved by Hig^liest Med- 
icnl Authorities.foi* the use 


of infants and adults. 




MENNEN’S’’ 


is the original ; others are imitations, 
and liable to do harm. 

Positive relief for all affections of the skin. De- 
liehtfiil after shaving;. Take no substitute. Sold 
( by driig;g;ists, or mailed for 25 cents. 

^ Name this magazine. Samples 

GERHARD MENNEN CO., Newark, N. J. 





Hair Blemishes 

On Pace, Neck and Arms Removed instantly 
and forever, at the first touch of 

PADONA 


hair vanishes like mist before 
the rising sun. Roots of the hair 
wither and die, making a new 
growth impossible; leaving the 
skin soft, white and beautiful. Easily applied, cer- 
tain to cure, and harmless as dew. SIOOO Forfeit 
up for any case of failure or wheie there is 
slightest trace of injur.y. Used by thousands of per- 
sons of refinement. Padona is sent by mail, post- 
paid. in safety mailing cases, securely sealed, on 
receipt of $1 per box. Safe delivery of your letter 
insured by registering it at Postoffice. All corre- 
spondence regarded strictly confidential. Mention 
Lippincott’s. Live Agents wanted everywhere. 

The Padona Company, Cincinnati, 0.,U. S. A. 

39 


i MENNEN’S BORATED talcum g 


fc. 

¥ 

I 





LIPPINC0TT8 MAGAZINE ADVERTISER, 


GET THE BEST. 

The extraordinary sale and 
continued popularity of the 

Paul E. Win Fountain Pen 


is positive proof that the long-felt want of ' a writing 
public for a practical and satisfactory writing instru- 
ment has at last been supplied. 

The Standard. Over One Million Sold. 

Send for Catalogue. / BLOOMSBURQ, PA. 


Women and Money. 

For profitable purchase of securities on margin, or 
change of present investments for larger income, 
women should communicate with or visit the Wo- 
man’s Department of The Monetary Trust, offices 
No. 44 West 34th Street, New York, exclusively for 
women. By constant communication over private 
wires. President Carley and experienced associates 
will guide each customer, and reduce their advice to 
writing, when desired, so the client can consult her 
banker. With present financial conditions, and such 
guardianship, women may wisely exercise courage in 
using money. Interesting information on applica- 
tion. 

MIRIAM BERGER, Manager. 


if: ST A B L-l 3 M E: O 1846. 


FRANKLIN 

PRINTINC INK MS 

JOHN WOODRUFF’S SONS 
1217 and 1219 Cherry St., Philadelphia, Pa. 


This Magazine is printed with John WoodrufTs Sons’ Inks. 


THE 

Pennsylvania Company 

For Insurances on Lives and 
Granting Annuities, 

No, 517 Chestnut St.j PHILADELPHIA. 

(TRUST AND SAFE DEPOSIT COMPANY.) 
Incorporated March 10, 18i2. Charter Perpetual. 

CAPITAI. . . . . ^2,000,000 

SURPIilJS . . ^ . . 2,000,000 

Chartered to act as EXECUTOR, ADIMINISTRA- 
TOR, TRUSTEE, GUARDIAN, ASSIGNEE, COM- 
MITTEE, RECEIVER, AGENT, etc.; and for the 
faithful performance of such duties all of its Capital 

and Surplus are liable. 

ALL TRUST INVESTMENTS ARE KEPT 
SEPARATE AND APART FROM THE ASSETS 

OF THE COMPANY. 

INCOME COLLEC TED A ND REMITTED. 

SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO THE CARE 
OF RE AL E STATE. 

INTEREST ALLOW ED ON MONEY DEPOSITS. 

SAFES IN ITS BURGLAR- PROOF VAULTS 
FO R REN T. 

The protection of its Vaults for the preservation 
of WILLS offered gratuitously. 

Gold and Silver-Plate, Deeds, Mortgages, etc., re- 
ceived for safe-keeping under guarantee. 


HENRY N. PAUL, President. 

JARVIS MASON, TRUST OFFICER. 

L. C. CLEEMANN, ASS’T TRUST OFFICER. 
JOHN J. R. CRAVEN, Secretary. 

C. S. W. PACKARD, TREASURER. 

WM. L. BROWN , Asst Treas urer. 

Lindley Smyth, William W. Justice, 

Henry N. Paul, Craige Lippincott, 

Alexander Biddle, Edward S. Buckley, 

Anthony J. Antelo, Beauveau Borie, 

Charles W. Wharton, Eugene Delano. 

Edward H. Coates, Edward Morrell, 

Robert M. Lewis. 


LEAD PENCILS, 

penholders, steel and rubber erasers 

RUBBER BANDS RULERS, Etc. 

New York. EBERHARD FABER. Chicago. 



LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 


Women^s Tailor-Made Costumes^ 



UE great outlet, wholesale and retail, enables us to manufacture these gar- 
ments to a larger extent than any other retail house in the country, and, 
also, to purchase largely from other makers. We buy in Europe and America, 
and manufacture in our own workrooms only the best styles, so that those who 
make their selections in Philadelphia can he most satisfactorily served at our 
store, and, at the same time, save at least one profit. If certain sizes should 
not be in stock, we will make them promptly at the same price, or, for a small 
advance over retail price, take measurements and give fittings : 


of fine Habit Cloth, fiy front, 
coat lined with taffeta silk, 
perfectly draped skirt, fan 
back, lined with cambric 
and finished with velveteen 
binding. Colors : blue, 
black, and green, at . . nJ>IU.UU 


Tailor=Made Costumes 

of extra quality Covert 
Cloth, latest shape fiy front 
coat, lined with changeable 
taffeta, perfect hanging skirt 
in the very latest shape, 
light and dark colorings, nn 
at C^I^.UU 

Tailor=Made Costumes 

of fine Cheviot and Broad- 
cloth, fiy front coat, small 
lapels, perfectly draped skirt 
of the latest cut, both coat 
and skirt lined with fine 
taffeta silk. Colors : black, 
blue, brown, green, and ^ 
heliotrope, at vpID.UU 


;Tailor=Made Costumes 

the “ Brandenberg,” beau- 
tifully made and finished, 
of fine Cheviot, coat 
lined with taffeta, at . . vplO.UO 


In fine Broadcloth, at $ 18.00 

Tailor=Made Costumes 

both the “ Brandenberg” 
and fly front jacket effects, 
jacket and skirt lined with 
very fine taffeta silk, made 
and finished equal to any 
made-to-order garment 
at twice the price . . . 


STRAWBRIDGE & CLOTHffiR, Philadelphia. 



DRESS 
SHIELDS % 


Do just what is required of w 
them — shield the dress from 
perspiration. Some dress 
shields do more — they MV/ 
jive out an offensive 
odor. Others are 
heavy, cumber- MV/ 
some. OMO 
Dress Shields ^A^ 
will outwear either MV/ 
rubber or stockinet 
shields, are abso- ^A^ 
lutely odorless and MV/ 
lighter by half. ^(l/? 
Trial pair 25c. W. 

OMO MFG.C0. W 

394 GANAL STREET W 
NEW YORK. 


ARNICA 


TOOTH 
SOAP 

Delicious-Cleansin^-Harmless 

OTHERS IMITATE! — NONE EQUAL! 

ij 26c. •^II druggists or by mail. C. H. STRONG & CO.|ChicagO. 


t Every Woman Needs 

^ a protection for the edge of her skirt, to 

^ keep it safe from dirt and wear. 

¥ 



is the only perfect dress 
edge. Not a “ cord,” 
“braid,” “rubber,” or 
“ velveteen” binding, but 
a beautifully soft brush 
that defies wet, and dirt, 
and wear. 


Outlasts the Skirt. 


It Cleans Easily — 


FEDES’S tm 
SKIRT PROTESTOR 


9^ 


¥ A shake and the dust is off, 

¥ A rub and it’s clean, 

A brush and it’s new. 

^ At all dry goods stores, or write 

U J. w. GODDARD & SONS, 

^ 98=100 Bleecker St., New York. 

41 




L1PPINC0TT8 MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 



You have BRAINS ! 

You have TALENT! 

You have AMBITION! 

Then USE THEM! 

But 

YOU MUST LEARN HOW. 


All newspapers and magazines have steady 
employment for men and women 

WHO KNOW HOW> 

But 


They have no time to 

TEACH YOU HOW. 
HOWEVER, I HAVE. 

I not only train yon as competent reporters and writers, 

but I market all suitable matter written by my pupils. 

There is always a ready sale for well-written articles. 

Twenty-five years of service on the Leading New York 
City Daily Papers have made my success as instructor cer- 
tain. New Classes now forming. All instructions by 
mail. Write for information; no stamp. 

EDMUND S. MORGAN, 

Jackson’s Mills, N. J. 

Late Special Southern Correspondent “The Sun,” Industrial 
Editor “The Mail and Express;” Financial Editor 
“ Morning Journal,” etc., etc. 


True 


ease in 


writing 


comes 
with 
the use 


WHITING S 
STANDARD 


PAPERS 


For invitation and fine 
correspondence. Pure 
fibre and delicate surface 


Whiting Paper Company 
bj New York Philadelphia Chicago 


Mills: Holyoke, Mass. 






j English-made Brass |i- 
1 and Iron Bedsteads. I 





m 

m 

m 


m ^ 




New designs embodying exclusive style, 
high finish, and fine workmanship. 

Twin Bedsteads in Brass, Nickel, and 
White Enamel. Also Folding Cabinet 
Iron Bedsteads. 

Catalogues and Price-Lists on applica- 
tion. 










HOSKINS & SEWELL, 

i6 E. 15th Street, New York. 
England : London and Birmingham. 




i 






43 


LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 







FOR AN ENTIRE 

FLOWER GARDEN 

Our grand flower seed offer of 1896 proved so popular that we have decided to make the great- 
est offer for 1897 ever put out by any publishing house. We must gain 200,000 new 
subscribers to our Popular Liiterary Success, The Columbian this spring, and so have 
had put up for us by a leading seed house several hundred thousand packages of choice 
flower seeds, comprised in attractive collections, each kind of seed in separate pack- 
ages, which we shall send FREE, solely to introduce our magazine. Here are the varieties, 
all of which we send in separate packages, sixteen in all, with cultural instructions on 
each on receipt of only one dime, or 11 one cent stamps to pay fora 3 mos. trial sub. ; 


Pansies, sweet scented, very large, lovely . 30 col. 

Pinks, finest double bedding sorts in mixtures 14 col. 

Asters, new sorts, finest double varieties mix«d 20col. 

Poppies, gian Iflowered, double, very showy 20 col 

Petunias, finest single mixed , profuse blooming SOcol. 

Zinnias, rich and showy, immense double flowers 10 col 

Sweet Alyssum, very pretty for edgings, brigh t 12 col. 

Sweet Mignonette, large flowers, superb scented 2 col. 


Marigold, French striped, dwarf stocky plants, mixed 
Larkspur, dwarf double rocket, very showy , hardy 
Sweet Peas, large flowered, all newer shades, robust 
Nasturtiums, flowers last until frost, full bloomers 
Portulacas, single mixed, charming dwarf plants . 
Candytuft, free flowering annuals, beds or borders . 
DrummondPhlox, grandiflora, fine, large flowering 
Morning Glory, sturdy, well marked rich flower 


10 col. 
10 col. 
10 col. 
.5 col. 
20 col. 
15 col. 
20 col. 
40 col. 


Remember, you must send us only 10 cts. in silver or 11 one cent stamps and get all. We prefer to introduce our 
Magazine in this way than to spend thousands of dollars in advertisingas many pubs. do. Afteryou have received our Sur- 
prise Collection and Magazine you will become a regular patron. The Columbian, 13- 17 Otis St., Boston, Mass. 




risk the loss of time, labor and ground 
by planting seeds of unknown qual- 
ity. The market is full of cheap, 
unreliable seeds. FERRY'S SEEDS 
are always the best ; do not accept 
any substitute. Seed Annual free. 


The Wabash Railroad 

THE POPULAR LINE 

TO 

Chicagfo^ St. Louis^ Kansas City, Omaha/ 
Denver, San Francisco, 

And all points West, Northwest, and Southwest. 

The ONLY Through Sleeping Car Line from New York 
and Boston to St. Louis via Niagara Falls. 

Through Sleeping Cars from New York and Boston 
to Chicago. 

Through Sleeper, 5 t. Louis to Los Angeles, every 
Wednesday and Saturday. 

Stop-off Privilege at Niagara Falls 

from One to Ten Days. 

For information in regard to rates, etc., apply to 
H. B. McClellan, Oen. East. Agent, 

387 Broadway, New York. 


Wild Ferns 

AND FLOWERS. ^ 

The most beautiful that grow in 
this and other countries. I grow 
and sell the hardiest of these, after 
they have been tested in this cli- 
mate. I search the world over for 
the best. Prices surprisingly low — 
quality of stock considered. Hardy 
orchids, ferns, vines, climbers, and 
lilies ; shrubs and trees. Plants for 
sun and shade, for bog and rock- 
work, border plants, etc. 

My illustrated catalogue describes about 700 
kinds that you ought to know. Tells how to 
grow, and where to plant. Send 2c. stamp for 
it — or cut out this advertisement, send with 
name and address and get it free, postpaid. 
Last year’s patrons will receive copies without 
asking. 

F. H. HORSFORD, Charlotte, Vt. 




f Ril Well-Posted Buyers have made our Nurseries 

r W lx IVI M I M I I C M lx 9 their source of supply for 

New and Rare Trees, Shrubs, Evergreens, Rhodo- 
dendrons, New Fruit, and Hardy Perennial Plants, 

And in consequence, few if any nurseries equal ours for variety, quality, and extent. All buyers can get 1 
from us plans for arrangement of their grounds. Write for our beautiful catalogue and information. 

SHADY HILL NURSERY CO.y 102 State St., Boston, Mass. 


44 


Beautiful Easter Booklets 


The City of the Blest. 

By Dora Ross. Twelve pages, printed in 
colors and monochrome ; size, 5x6^ inches, 
embossed cover, 18 cents. 

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed. 

By Montgomery. A beautiful booklet of 
twenty pages, printed in the highest style of 
the lithographic art, chaste cover design of 
Easter lilies and silver cross ; size, 8 x 10 
inches, 30 cents. 

Hail Happy Morn. 

Eight pages, four of which are lithographed in 
colors ; size, 4 x 4^ inches, 10 cents. 

Rejoice, Rejoice ! 

By Fannie Goddard. Eight pages, four 
printed in colors ; size, 3x4 inches, 7 cents. 

Joy Cometh in the Morning. 

By Cecilia Havergal and others. Twelve 
pages, printed in colors and monotint ; size, 
4x5 inches, 12 cents. 

The Risen Christ. 

By Isa J. Postgate. Eight pages, daintily 
printed, embossed cover ; size, 3x4 inches, 7 
cents. 

An Easter Token. 

By Cecilia Havergal and others. Twelve 
pages, four printed in colors ; size, 4^ ^ SH 
inches, 15 cents. 

Jesus Lives. 

By C. F. Gellert. Eight pages ; size, 3x4 
inches, 7 cents. 

Gleams of Heavenly Light. 

Easter poems by Charlotte Murray. Six- 
teen pages, printed in Munich ; size, 5x7^ 
inches, 25 cents. 

From Cross to Glory. 

By Jessie Chase. Eight pages, embossed 
cover ; size, 3x4 inches, 7 cents. 


Peace be unto You. 

By Charlotte Murray. An oval-shaped, 
twelve page booklet ; size, 4x5 inches, colors 
and monotint, printed in Munich, 12 cents. 

Peace Abundant. 

By Charlotte Murray. Eight pages, four 
printed in colors ; size, 3x4 inches, 7 cents. 

A Lucky Easter Egg. 

By Harriott Wolff. Sixteen pages, hu- 
morous poems and eight colored illustrations, ' 
printed in Germany ; size, 5 x 7J^ inches, 20 
cents. 

Easter Hope. 

By Charlotte Murray. Sixteen pages, 
colors and monotint ; size, 5 x 7J^ inches, 20 
cents. 

The Flow’rets Easter Admoni- 
tion. 

By Isa J. Postgate. Eight pages, colors and 
monotint; size, 4 x 4J^ inches, 10 cents. 

Easter Light. 

Twelve pages, four colored ; size, 4x5 inches, f 
12 cents. 

Easter Warblers. 

By Isa J. Postgate. Twelve pages, colors 
and monotint; size, 5 x inches, 18 cents. 

Gladsome Eastertide. 

By Charlotte Murray and others. Twelve 
pages, four in colors; size, 4 x 5 inches, 15 
cents. 

Bunny’s Merry Easter Wishes. 

By A. V. Wahl. Sixteen pages, eight in 
colors ; size, ^ x y }4 inches, 20 cents. 

An Easter Prayer. 

By Charlotte Murray. Eight pages ; 
size, 3x4 inches, 7 cents. 

The Risen Light. 

By Cecilia Havergal. Sixteen pages, colors 
and monotint; size, 5 x 7J^ inches, 20 cents. 


JOHN WANAMAKER 

Philadelphia New York 


LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISER. 





AN APRIL OUTING 


Old Point Comfort 

AND 

Virginia Beach 

.15 DELIGHTFUL.... 


AND 


made easily and comfortably upon the fast 
and luxurious 


Sailing: every afternoon, except Sunday 
from New York. This 


SHORT SEA TRIP 


is in itself an Invigorating Tonic, Restful, Health -giving 
....and Enjoyable.... 


The Magnifcent Hotels at these 
resorts, while the centres of brilliant 
social life and gayety, made especially 
attractive by army and navy circles, 
offer at the same time the fullest oppor- 
tunity for rest and recreation. 

IN PHILADELPHIA^ Round Trip Tickets to Old Point Comfort, returning 
via Washington, can be purchased at ticket offices of Pennsylvania and 
Philadelphia and Reading Railroads. 


The Spring Climate of tliis favored 
region is wonderfully salubrious, the 
balmy sunshine lending a genial warmth 
to the ozone-laden breezes of the ocean. 
The season is a full month in advance 
of that in New York. 


Send for “ Glimpses of Colonial Days,” a beautifully illustrated 
book upon this section. 


Old Dominion S. S. Co 

PIER 26, N. R., 

NEW YORK. 


W. L. GUILLAUDEU, 
Vice=Pres’t and 
Traffic Mgr. 




46 


ORIENT CYCLES ^ 

arc new to you send for our beautiful 
1897 Catalogue^ 

Our Pitch Line Chain saves 45 %, 
chain and sprocket friction* The DIVIDED CRANK 
Axle has but four pieces, and cannot be misplaced* 
The Truss Fork Crown is absolutely safe, — no 
breakages in ^96* Our TRIPLEX BEARING gives 
only rolling friction* Many other features of merit* 
WATCH THE ORIENT. WALTHAM MFC* CO*, 

Made in Waltliam, the Watch City. 

Reliahk Agents are Desired. WALTHAM, MASS. 

FOR Societies, Socials, Bicycle, 

AND OTHER CLUBS. 




ROL-L- • • • 
TVHNUTE 
ORDER 


BOOK 


C03UEBINED 


CONTAINS 


Second Edition, 
Improved. 


Parliamentary Rules, Order of Business, Roll for 200 Members, 
144 Pages for Minutes, and 108 Orders on Treasurer, 
that can be renewed. 


SIZE, 8}i X loyt. 

Bound Russia Back and Corners* Green 
Cloth Sides* Handsomely Finished^ 
and Embossed on Side in Gold* 

PRICE, $2*50* 


J* B* Lippincott Company, 

PUBLISHERS, 

715 and 717 Market Street, 


DISCOUNT TO THE TRADE. 


PHILADELPHIA. 


Cures^while 


you Sleep 



Whooping Cough, 


Asthma, Catarrh, 

Descriptive pamphlet free. 

CrOU P Vapo-Cresolene Co., 69 Wall St., N. Y. 



Leading Chefs Use Only 


Balking IVvwclei* 


VIN 
MARIANI 


(MAHIANI WINE) 


THE IDEAL FRENCH TONIC. 

“I used Vin Mariani 
many years, and consider 
it a valuable stimulant.” 
Sir Morell Mackenzie. 


At Druooists & Fancy Grocsbs. Avoid Substitutions. 

Sent free, if this paper is mentioned. 

Descriptive Book, Portraits and Autographs 
of Celebrities. 


MARIANI & CO., 

Paris : 41 Boulevard Haussmana. 62 West 15th St., Nrw York. 
London : 239 Oxford Street. 


1 

Is sweet 
and clean. 

Careful 

V 

o 

housekeepers 
will have 

K 

no other 
in the 

Y 

kitchen. 

Thc Procter a Gamble Co'.,Cin’ti. 

JOAP 

99 ^'’'="""’ Pure 








lad 


made by 

I Walter Baker & Co. Ltd., 

ESTABLISHED IN 1780, 

at Dorchestert Mass. 

Has the well-known 

YELLOW 
LABEL 



on the front of every pack- 
age, and the trade-mark^ 

" La Belle Chocolatiere,” 

on the back. 


/Mone other Genuine* 


Walter Baker & Co. Ltd.,' 


DORCHESTER, MASS. 


H 

PI 

PI 

r 


( 


TJ 

PI 


CO 


^ ' 


§ 1 


0 


0 ; 

Jl I 

't ' 


6 0 6 ^ 






N 





] 


i 












W: 






*r 


m 


i'l-V' 






w(' 






.<..5 




m 


>Wfv 




it‘(A’ 




V ,■). 


■*V'V 

V ' ^ 




-fd'' 


S f 


I 


1 ;^ 


Prj 


^ '4.'^ 


L 


Vt 


Hi. 






iV'!#'' 


f ? ' ^l«ir ■< 


to 












'>n> 


' ' A'^ '•'.•* y ■ 




V 4 i; /« 








, '“IT 


M,> ;A 










(Bs 


- -T 








‘ .<i 




m 






s y. 




».Dr<* 




r: 5 . 


/..VV 






■lAf 


m 


I » 


4 . 


> . 


•i ■» 


^ JLk ' 


v; 


-‘VJ 


113 ? 








{ / ki* 


L« 






^ ^ ii 'l 


RC- 1 » 


t: 


if. 








^ ■■:» i«, 


'.o. 






f. 


I'K* Vri/H 

'..'M 


/, )u/ 


\ A a' ‘ 


*:k' 


[M . » 


^ .i 




Vy 


■r* t , 


«t i 


* ' I. 


//1 


¥• 




M. 






<!♦ 


4r V 




i’f 


i y 


>A 


« ^ * 1 




'V 


- 


i * ^ 










‘ J 








'<^1? 


T A < 

» «‘i 




Jr 








I 


:<lr 


.'I 


f , : • ^ 

■ / 


hi^ 


if*; 


I , . J' 




i f'f* 


ir, 






d-jny 




4t 




f »'t 


^ T 


■I,' 


‘,s , ^h 




IP t 










{ 






v.A*: 


?A-:y 


n i'Ul 


lJ-: 




L^' ■ - . 


d' 






>- 9 l H 


. I ‘ '! ^ I t f ' 


■>t 


• ./ 

• a . . * -ii " 1 

- 


* 4 




■* ^ ‘ 


m-. 


. ^ * € • f « 


i_-.V/ 


♦ N " 




»iCf 


f>/ 


t s 




.o'.'f'i}®'; 

-‘V’ 


y ' -i '•' .7 


m 


'w 








>« i* 






.'■» k 




% 


■ V 




r’ 


. 


i\^ i 




R'jtA. 


^ti" 


•/}: 


I i 




I , i 








V'v. 




'• 'j 






y\s- 


U’^i ‘H- 


V.V 


Ft < 


'.y 


i>r 




^‘>4^ 








Jvv 'M*'" !.. ’■ 

ittk-j V. fj, ‘.•^' .\ '■■V, .V' * ^' 'a'. 

p< T*' i 

^If f%. • / x‘%. W,. .I , :A 










'-? >> 


• ^C' '-r 




■A \ a: 


S\ f 


m 


:v 


"Jj 


Vtf^ 


Wffiy*. ■ ■•• ,• * ■ ^ O .' ^rt^■v ▼{vVv‘r^*^ , ’■ '\' .-'Hr 


y 4 ri>j^y^ 


[J I 








N 1 








»•. <*J 


J / 'A 






a \) 




*\iy 


K&.','.‘ '■^•.'i’ 'll® 

■ f- • • . V ^ , ‘ •'v’ f . 

**/ .'•^cL- »v. ^ -1 : «» 








» <»* 


&f V' 


.W> 


^rsJMvi 


0 s 


I 


, ..f ’) \ 




I'Hi 




L )^ '• ’ / .i! 


t f 


K*- 


»r..^ 


!*• *f* 


, #V*i 






X^} 


I y 


'if 

t ^mi 


^ > 


< 


M.if 


‘Hi 




M*VK 






- r . - ^ -Kv - *- ^ 

r .' 1 ' ^Idl 






M 


1 1 


•Vi- .. 


f Nt 


f ' 

€ 


■K 


“‘TTi 












Ar.i 




m 


kI< 


\ ■ '"' ■ ' 

•'•'’•k »tl 








>k 


<r*f- * 


1-;^: 


‘ ■“ ■ 

■' vV. V 7 , 

• • • i L! .iA • « 


't 


LVV 


’ /I- 








1 

?--aie 8 « 


k :o 






, •>. 


•vy ■. 




/* 




» * 


*» 




y>' 


t'' V 


'■•■'.''.■'J'''.. .-iSi 

X.. >.. . .,.;1 


*•■ .,:. ’ if . ' 

’I « . 


.v,'; 


CJ- 


V' <: 


*,‘V 


y-iL' 


P-VfV. 


1 






v.y 


ti" '" • • ' r' 

*' .,, ;• 'A. ,/ ^ 


iV,v ,'-^1 






V 




XX 






'.V 










■';' <1 













X> 



I, <. ^ .0 Ni 0 ^ 

V V '// C* . 0 ^ 



V/ 


■>/ 

,0'' 0. '"’ “ ^ "> * ’ ' ' " \> > ' ' 
^ r e '-- * - 

* rf(\ S,R 



n N r- ^ ^ H * ^ 

<• 0 

O \ o . ^ 

O » ■^‘ ■y' 

V 




* ^(A>' 

-=«> ''V ^ 

^ y -1 I ! 

■>^,^ 0 <> X ,\ rv N r 

-V O r> 



O ^ ^ 

^ ' V 


O cS O 



■^o V^ = 



^ '\' 



- = .X- 

,0 ' ?- ■' ' “ A > v^ 

* 'cf>^ C.^' iM ^^/77 o .. 

rr> S ». rV\\VZA\///A *7^ .C 




* 'V 

^ CD 

O n I ' \ 

1 o ^'^ ■> 

•p V( ■' ^ 

- '75 K = ^ 

■S o'^‘ ^r' ^ r\0 ■ t' 

S ^ o / V ^ n ^ 


S ^xr. 



^ * ^>.0 
f, > ^0 

^ .N X r, ^ 

9 




A> ^ 

■^o V^ = 

/' .*^5 %'• \<# -• 

. O 

*>^i 

. r ^ » <r s ^ ^O ^ 0 o X v\ 





Vj ^ 

r\\ ^ 

« ^0 

^ ■'' - xvv'wjy- 

^ 4- O ► y « «D 

\V I » » , '''^- " 'J N O .1^' V o 0 * « I ' ” \^' ^ * 0 N 0 ’ 



“ -vV y^' 

- •x'^ 




0 <1 X ^ 



% A'' ’ 







■7p > : 

,0-7- - '5^ 

<■ 

, ’ ^0 

.o'* ?.'■■*<' ^ > \' V 

« C\\\>fet-W//>7 _ v«^’\ 

2: 


8 1 ' 



■oyo.\^ A ■ ^ 

% °0 ,# "“ 0^,» 

^ ^OAW ^ 

O > o jx 

«>■ ^ >. 



S^- *. . 0 ’ .0- 

■ ' - ^ c-. , 0 ^ „ 




Y <f 0 


' V*’^ r* y 

; .x> . ^ 



A </> ^ 

-t. 

■Y ^ 7 , - ^ ^ - ^ 



o 0 -^ 

< ' L x '« \0 _ 

'-^ W ft A \ I B , 



: 4 


s 

. •^'o V 

: xo ^ . ' 

.. *.oko’ ^0 »' 

. ^ys^^mZy 2 : 


^ ^ t ' 





7 A 

^ ^ CL^ ^ 


" '4 

„ ^ C. i aV y .- - 


•x'^^ %. 




\ x- ^ ^ ft ft 


.9' ^ ’ " ’" /• 

*I\ -B. ^ C. - 



cf' /- ^ 

A 

X 

^ H 

■'\> 

> 

:a -- 



y. 





O' 




4 O 

TS -r. 



5^\ V 

' ot . /, 

9 A \V ^ ^ .9 N 0 

' ^ V ^ 0 A 



o ^ ^ 

c#- 

,0^ S 

V ^ » I 

i> s tt n ^ 


• : xc 

c- ✓ « 0 

O. it ^ aO 


' V ^ 0 N 0 . 


o 





^ -5- ' 


O ^ V 



✓ 

. - V ^ I 

A c<>~‘« ■% ' 

\ 


r 





'Kt \V 




\0 ^ 

A ^ 

ci- 


.c\' . 0 0 ^ ^ ,>V a ' ■ " X> 'o A' 

-? 'J) 

. ^ -x =" 

= ■& -t, ^- 

'*(. '■?■„ »'’«l\^(S^/U <"• A’ 

S'' ’•!'- = V/ 88^^ aT 



o 


S 



^ t, A O 


.0' ^ ^ ^ <^- C ^ >P 


0 





r/N a'. 


.-i'* 


, v'' c 0 ‘ « <1^ 

’)■ ~£'^Nrv 4 



8 I ' S « 7- 9 N 0 4'-’ 

\ ) S ^ ' // (^v O ^ ' 

» A V .( 

' # : 


cS’"’ '^-^-A 

^ sf>' - 





s ,0* ^r) " 0 ^ .V 


■"b v^ - 



" ^ " 0> . ^ 
c)^ 

•/' ’>% ^ 

-r 'P 











V> V 




S'* \ V y N 


- ° 

A -^ - s ^ 

^ 0 « \ 4\ _ ^ ^ i, <, s'' ^>o ^ n V / ^ - .w 

^ A<is^ c « ^ « '<3. v" ' ' * ^ b C « ^ '<^9 " " ' ^ ® ^ ^C 


■^o V 



s b<. 






rp ^ ■ a * C' ^ ^ . 

^ '*' » . A * c> ^ n '0' 

' ”.“ % •> V> , si:i' ^'^c- " ,0^ . 0 , ^ 


8 1 "V 



'4' 'A r ^ 





